ROUGH CUT

by Wyatt, Dani

  “I don’t want to do this.” I stare at my brother, who looks back at me with dead eyes.

  “I don’t want to get my legs broken, either. This is the lesser of two evils, Betty. You can’t spare a few minutes of your life? This isn’t just for me, it’s for us. Open your mouth.”

  He holds the red ball to my lips and the tightness in my throat nearly chokes off my air. The rubber pushes between my lips and tears spring to my eyes.

  The light in the hallway darkens as Stan comes around the corner and eyes me like a prize hog at the county fair.

  He grins and whistles. “Perfect. I’d hoped you would cry.”

  My feet ache already from the obscenely high heels that are too tight, as my brother starts to secure the buckle holding the gag in my mouth. I trip and fall into Dennis, who huffs in irritation.

  My ankles strain. I battle to stay upright even when I’m wearing my Keds or loafers. If I’m lucky, I’ll get out of this without a broken ankle or worse.

  Stan turns with a satisfied chuckle, calling to the room that the entertainment is about to begin. He disappears around the corner as Dennis whispers in my ear.

  “Give them a good show and Stan will lend me more money. And I promise, next time, I won’t lose.”

  As the music starts, all I can think about is Roan, and the tears burn down my cheeks.

  Chapter Eight

  Roan

  THE PHRASE losing my fucking mind doesn’t come close to what’s going on inside me right now.

  It’s four-thirty, and I’ve already grilled the super at her apartment complex, called and texted her fifty times and done three circles around town looking for any sign of her. I spent the day getting things in place—for her, for us, doing some work business but obsessing over what I intended to do with her after I picked her back up at her apartment.

  The last text she answered was just before two o’clock when I let her know I was thinking about her. I asked where she was, she answered back she was thinking of me too, and a generic doctor’s appointment answer, which wasn’t what I wanted.

  In the future, I’ll make it clear that when I ask where she is, I want specifics.

  I know her brother drives an old beige Buick Century. When I dropped her off this morning, I took down the plate number on instinct. Anything I can do to keep track of her, keep her safe, is my obligation. I called in the plate to Bill Watson at the station and had him run it, just to be sure no accidents were reported. I’ve called the hospitals as well, there was no Betty Dorrant at any of them.

  The sheriff came back with no accidents, but apparently the car’s registration has been expired nearly a year. Bill knew the apartment manager at their complex and made some calls and inquiries. Turns out, they are months behind on the rent.

  No fucking way my girl is going to live like this.

  I’ve watched her. She works her ass off at that restaurant. Something smells like shit, and from what I’ve picked up on that shit’s name is Dennis.

  “Fuck.” I grip the steering wheel until my arms shake. Something is wrong. Something must be wrong. If she was going to be delayed for some reason, she would let me know.

  I’m headed to the sheriff’s office to see if there’s any other avenues to dig into about Dennis and where they might have gone.

  When my phone goes off, my heart skips in the hope it might be her, and everything is fine, but as I bring it up, I see it’s Vin.

  “You find out anything?” I grit out.

  I called him earlier, telling him to get the word out to anyone and everyone in town to report back if they see her or her brother.

  Sure, I’m not exactly the social butterfly of the season around here, but I garner respect and I’ve lived and worked in this town long enough that when I need something, people are there.

  “Nothing. Where are you?”

  “On my way to see Bill. Fuck, man, I’m about to come undone.”

  “I’ll meet you there. See if there’s anything else we can do. I’m leaving from the office now. All the guys here are ready to help, you know that. Anything you need, man.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. See you there, I’m five away.”

  When I pull into the station, Vin is right behind me. My head is pounding, and my muscles are tight.

  “You okay?” Vin is on my heels as I get to the door.

  “No, man. I’m fucking not okay.”

  He nods. “I get it. If Ginger was missing...”

  He takes a breath and releases it on a growl. Ginger is his girl. They’ve only been together a few months, but from the moment he met her, he changed. At the time, I didn’t understand it, until thirty-eight days ago.

  We march into the station and Bill is there on the phone, holding a finger up for us to hold tight.

  When he hangs up and turns to me, I can see in his eyes that things aren’t right.

  “Shit, Roan, that was my inside guy. You know, the undercover agent I’ve got with the cocaine, loan sharking investigation?”

  “Spit it out, Bill, what the fuck’s going on? Why do I care about your inside guy?”

  “Fuck man, you just have to promise not to kill anyone...”

  I’M PUSHING NINETY with Bill and Vin following. The address is ten minutes from the station, but I’m a few houses away in five.

  My head is still spinning with all I’ve come to know. How the fuck Betty and her brother came to be mixed up in all this is a mystery, but it turns out the sheriff’s undercover work isn’t all hot air after all. These guys, Stan and his crew, are the same fucking ones I dealt with in the restaurant last night, and they’re serious motherfuckers.

  Why the hell Bill was chatting with us about it all with them sat at the next fucking table is something I’ll never know. Vin’s never going to let him live that one down.

  Anyway, the phone call I walked in on at the station was his undercover guy. He excused himself to the bathroom so he could make a call and let Bill know he needed to get over there. Apparently, Stan set up a little private dance, with an opportunity for extras right after, and Bill’s guy assumed it was going to be a working girl. But when he saw it was Betty, who he recognized from last night, and that she didn’t exactly seem happy to be there, he decided he had to do something.

  I’ll be grateful for that as long as I live.

  So long as I get there in time to stop what’s happening.

  I screech to a halt out front, and I’m in no waiting mood, so I’m out the door and around the back with my hair on fire and hatred burning in my soul.

  If she’s hurt...if anyone has touched her... Fuck, hell will be like a Holiday Inn Express compared to what I will do to those motherfuckers.

  I hear car doors closing as I approach the back door. Vin and Bill’s running footfalls in the distance as I kick open the back door and hear the blaring music.

  Following the sound, I come out of the hallway toward the front of the house, and the world disappears around me.

  I see Betty.

  I see Dennis. I see the other guys that are about to meet their maker.

  Dennis sees me first as I fly into the room, reminding myself that the priority is to get her out of here. To get her safe. Then I’ll deal with everyone else.

  When her brother sees me, he throws his hands up, but I’ll deal with his ass later.

  The guys are so focused on Betty, they don’t even notice me right away. But as soon as I get close enough, I knock two of them backward on their chairs because they are between her and me. I don’t know which one is their inside guy, and I hope like hell somehow the sheriff gets that sorted before I come back and start kicking asses around.

  Betty turns and her eyes latch to mine. She’s crying, swaying and trying to dance, her arms flaying outward looking like she’s about to topple over with every movement while she teeters on a pair of obscene clear acrylic stripper heels. To top it off, she’s got a red ball gag in her mouth, spit seeping out around her perfect pink lips and the fur
y inside of me knows no bounds.

  I’m on her in three steps. I scoop her up and over my shoulder, pulling her ridiculous shoes off and throwing them against the wall so hard one of the heels stabs through the drywall and lodges itself hanging there. By the time I spin around, Bill and Vin are coming in the room, and I see two more guys from work slamming through the back door.

  We are law abiding guys, but we’re rough and prepared. The sheriff isn’t the only one holding a weapon, and the guys sitting in the chairs seem to know that’s where they better stay.

  “Make sure none of them fucking move.” I bellow as the music goes silent and curse words start to fill the air.

  As I pass Dennis, I growl, “Get your ass outside.”

  Betty is shaking as I stomp out the door and get her to my car. I set her down, get the fucking gag out of her mouth, strip off my shirt, and cover her with it.

  “Baby.” I hold her head in my hands. “Did anyone hurt you? Touch you?”

  She shakes her head, sobs convulsing her body as she throws her arms around me, and I turn to her brother.

  “You better start talking.”

  “I—I—I’m sorry, okay?” He swallows and looks back at the house. “I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re right, you fucked up.”

  Betty releases me, and I turn back to her.

  “Just take me home. I just want to go home.”

  “I’m going to take you home, baby. Just stay right here. No one is going to hurt you.”

  I open the door to the truck and put her in the driver’s seat, then lean over and start it up.

  “You sit in here. I’ll be right back. Anything happens, you leave, okay? Go to the sheriff’s station, and I’ll meet you there.”

  She nods, and I shut the door, grabbing Dennis by the back of his shirt and dragging his sorry ass next to me toward the back door.

  “Talk.”

  “Things just got out of hand, and I owed them so much money. Fuck, I’m sorry. They said if Betty danced, they’d forgive my debt. I told him no touching. They said just dancing, and I thought...” His lips quiver and he hesitates, but I’m sure my expression makes it clear I want the rest. “Then, when it got started, I heard Stan telling one of the guys after the dancing, things would get interesting. They had other plans. I swear, I didn’t know. She’s my sister, I wouldn’t have done that to her. I’m not...they were going to break my legs or something. I made her come, told her to dance, but I would never let anyone hurt her. Touch her.” He breaks into tears. “I need help, man. Betty said that. I need help. She was right. I need a job, I need a professional, I need something. I just keep fucking everything up, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

  Before we reach the back door, sirens fill the air. I drag Dennis inside, and by the time we get to the living room where they have their pathetic floor show set up, there are six other cops marching through the front door with their guns drawn.

  All the guys except the two I put on the floor are still sitting in their seats, hands on their heads, and I’m guessing Bill’s guy’s cover isn’t blown. I’d like to tell him how grateful I am, but right now clearly isn’t the best time. Bill has his 9mm pulled out and held at the end of his locked arms, and Vin is standing there with the other guys from work backing him up.

  “What the fuck?” I ask Bill.

  “Look on the table.” He jerks his head toward the other end of the room, where I see several small baggies with white powder. “You should see how much is stashed in the back room. Still think I’m just a small-town cop?”

  Vin chuckles. “Thinks he’s Wild Bill Hickok or something.”

  “Hey, I’ll have you know my great, great granddaddy knew Bill Hickok.”

  “My great, great grandfather knew Abraham Lincoln, that doesn’t make me the president.”

  “Shut up, both of you,” I say, shaking my head. “Just take all of them out. Except him.” I glare at Stan and hear Bill release a long breath.

  “Fine. Everyone except you.” He aims his gun at Stan. “Up, hands on your heads and out the front door. I want you face down on the lawn. Do it now.”

  A few moment later, I’m alone in the room with Stan and Dennis.

  I step in front of the asshole that led this little show and humiliated my girl.

  “You don’t learn, do you?”

  He glares at me.

  I snap my tongue in my cheek, trying to figure out how to not kill him and still deliver the message needed.

  “You don’t ever look at her, breathe her air, even fucking think of her. Ever again. And you get to live. I find out otherwise? You won’t die quickly, and no one will ever find your fucking body. We clear?”

  He dead eyes me back without a word.

  “Get up,” I order, and he slowly rises to his feet, his eyes flicking to the open front door.

  “Yeah, you’re going out there. But not before I give you a reminder of what’s waiting for you if you don’t follow my instructions.”

  I cock back and slam my fist into his gut. He doubles over, his hands falling from his head to his knees, and he tries to come back with a half-hearted swing.

  It’s pathetic, but that doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Most of these bad guys? They’re all talk and no action. I bring my hands to his shoulders, shoving his face down into my knee and hear the crunch of his nose.

  He falls like bricks onto the floor, and his hands cover his face, blood streaming through as he coughs and gasps.

  Dennis points down at Stan. “He’s got her phone. That’s why she didn’t call you. In his front pocket.”

  I cock back my foot and give him a kick in the ribs. “Hand me her fucking phone.”

  He hesitates, and before I can deliver another kick to his head, Bill is there pulling me back and leaning down to press the barrel of his gun into Stan’s head.

  “Do as he says,” Bill growls, and slowly Stan’s hand moves, reaching into his pocket then holding the phone up. I snatch it from his shaking hand.

  “Get going.” Bill nods toward the door.

  I nod back, then turn to Dennis.

  “We’re done here.” I spit at Dennis. “But if you don’t get your shit together, if you ever put her in danger again, what you just saw will be a day at Disney compared to what I’ll do to you. Clear?”

  He nods, and I can’t stand the sight of him another minute.

  I leave his ass behind to fend for himself. The only thing I need right now is to be with Betty, in our home, stripping that fucking costume off and letting her know our life is about to start.

  Chapter Nine

  Roan

  MAYBE SOMEDAY I’LL be able to tell Betty that seeing her in that skintight, black latex dress nearly killed me. If it wasn’t for the reason she was wearing it, I would have enjoyed it more. But knowing it was made to embarrass and humiliate her? Fuck. After I stripped it from her body, I threw it in the trash.

  It took a fuck load of self-control not to take that cherry she’s holding for me as soon as I got her naked, but it wasn’t time. Instead, I made her tea and turned on some music, lit a fire in the fireplace, and told her how beautiful and strong she is.

  Since we’ve been home, I’ve been rock hard and holding back, letting her take a breath and know she’s safe here with me.

  “You better, baby?” I smooth her hair down her back as she lays on the sofa, her head resting in my lap as she fusses with her cat’s fur. As soon as I had her safe, and things calmed down with the cops, I drove straight over to her place. I went inside with her, packed her stuff in as many bags as we could find, and also brought her cat with us.

  The dogs were fascinated, and Tornado ignored them completely, walking around like the place has always belonged to her and I know they’re all going to get along.

  “Yeah.” Her body has softened since we came home. She’s wearing just my shirt, a single button holding it together, and I love how comfortable she seems like this.

  It fee
ls like years that we’ve been together, and it’s impossible for me to think that she won’t ever belong to me. That her tight virgin pussy won’t be mine very soon. The waiting is pushing me to my breaking point, but I need her head clear before I take her.

  In the bedroom, my preparations for today are waiting, and it’s nearly killing me not to drag her down the hall by her hair. But I know after what happened today, rushing things is not caring for her the way she deserves.

  After not caring about much for so long, she has become my everything. She’s it, and very soon she will understand how serious I am.

  “What’s going to happen to Dennis, do you think?”

  Truth is, I think he’s going to get himself into a shit ton of trouble unless he straightens himself out quick. And not just from me, either. But now that I’ve calmed down, I also understand how things are for him, and he needs help. There are underlying issues there, and I’m going to help with that.

  “He’ll be okay. He’s important to you, so he’s important to me. I’ll be sure he’s square with any other people, and I’ll be making arrangements for him to see a professional. But I’m not going to lie, a lot of this is going to be up to him. I’ll help with anything I can, and I know you will too. I’ll get him a job, ride his ass until he understands that hard work is part of the solution to his problems. But he’s going to need more, I know that, and I’ll be here to help, baby. I may not like what he did, but he’s still your family, and until we decide together otherwise, I’ll be on the team trying to get him back on track.”

  She turns her head in my lap, so she’s looking up at me. “How is this happening? How is it I feel like you are...” She draws her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “Family?”

  She nods.

  “I don’t know, but I am. We are. We’ll get Dennis back on track, you’ll see. And not just Dennis, I want you to see a doctor too. I have a feeling your clumsiness might be more than you think.”