Maverick's Redemption (Devil's Deviants Book 2)

by C. M. Allen

  A nurse pushed me back, “sir, you’re going to need to let her go. We need to get her to the exam room, so we can see what’s going on. Please, go to the waiting room and I’ll send someone to get your information,” she ordered.

  And then Harper was ripped away from me once again.

  “Come on, let’s have a seat in the waiting room and let the doctors do their jobs. I’ll fill you in on everything that went down.” Dekes said.

  When I could finally tear my eyes away from the doors Harper disappeared behind, Butch and I followed him over to the chairs. Sitting down, I took a deep breath and tried to shove all my worry for Harper aside. Right now, I needed to focus on finding out just who did this to her. When I found these motherfuckers, I was going to slice off a body part every day until they bled out for what they had done to my girl. “Tell me everythin՛.”

  “We received a call from the local authorities, who we had put on alert, that a woman up in the Gibbs Creek area had called in about some suspicious sounds. Said she thought she heard what sounded like a woman screaming inside one of the cabins up there when she was out for her evening walk. I asked the Chief of Police if he would send in some of his men to check it out and see if it was in fact Harper in that cabin or just a domestic situation. When they scoped it out, they immediately identified Harper and contacted me. My men and I flew in on a helicopter a half hour later and surrounded the cabin. We were going to wait until dark to move in, that way we could figure out how many we were dealing with. But, when we heard her screaming pleas for him to stop whatever it was he was doing to her, we knew we had to make a move right then and went in.” Taking a deep breath, he looked me right in the eyes. “We found Mr. Hopkins, AKA Worm, one of the Slayers on top of her, beating her while attempting to rape her.”

  The anger that instantly flooded my body destroyed any trace of the cage that contained the raging beast living just below the surface and I fucking lost it. Shooting up out of my seat, I kicked it over before heading to the nearest wall and burying my fists in it over and over again until the white walls were painted red with my blood. “I’m goin՛ to fuckin՛ kill him! All of them! They’re all fuckin՛ dead!” I shouted out.

  “Mav! Mav! Get your shit under control, man! This is not helpin՛ Harper!” The rage inside of me that took over was so blinding, that I didn’t even realize five men were now on me, trying to get me under control until I heard Butch shouting Harper’s name.

  Taking in deep breaths, I knew the question I needed answered, but it was tearing me up inside to ask it. “Did... did he... rape her?” I asked in a choked voice.

  “No. We got there before he was able to get that far. Her clothes were torn, and she was badly beaten, but he didn’t rape her. She was able to fight him off until we could get in there. She’s a fighter your girl” Dekes told me.

  She wasn’t raped, but she almost was! She was beaten! Beaten because I didn’t fucking protect her!

  These were the thoughts in my head shouting at me over and over so loudly that I could barely think straight. That was until I heard Dekes’ next words. “I have Worm, Maverick.”

  It was like everything turned to slow motion. “Where?” I growled.

  “Why don’t you get your hands bandaged up and then you and I can take a walk. Get some fresh air.”

  “I’m fine. Just take me to him.”

  Right at that moment a nurse walked up with some antiseptic and bandages. “The nurse is right here. Just let her clean you up real quick.”

  Looking at him, I simply nodded and allowed the nurse to tend to my hands, all the while hoping that he was about to hand over to me what I thought he was. “Fine, but make it fast.”

  “Devin, take care of this mess and make the necessary arrangements for the repairs,” Dekes said, pointing at the mess I’d made as the nurse tended to my hands before we walked out the doors.

  When we reached the outside, it felt as if I was finally able to take a breath. “Please fuckin՛ tell me that you’re goin՛ to hand that bastard over to me to be dealt with. After what he did to her... what he almost did to her. I need this one thing from you right now, Dekes.”

  Not saying a word, he led me across the parking lot to a blacked-out SUV. When we reached it, a rather large man stepped out of the driver’s side door. “Gerald, please show Mr. Reed what we have for him in the backseat.”

  When his guy, Gerald, opened the back door and revealed what I had prayed to fucking God was in there, it was like I believed in Santa Claus all over again when I saw Worm sitting there. Staring at the man before me with his hands handcuffed behind his back, and duct tape over his mouth, an eerie calm came over me. “You, motherfucker are goin՛ to beg me to feed you a fuckin՛ bullet by the time I’m through with you.”

  CHAPTER

  5

  Harper

  “What the fuck happened to her? Who did this? Where did you find her?”

  “My God, what did they do to you, Sweetheart?”

  “I love you, Harper. So fuckin՛ much. I’ll see you again soon, Sweetheart.”

  I swear on my life that whoever did this to you will be met with an extremely painful death.”

  “What’s happening to her?!”

  Hearing Maverick so worried and so scared, it was tearing me up inside that I couldn’t comfort him because my eyes and body wouldn’t cooperate with me. It was when he vowed revenge that I got the most upset. I couldn’t let him kill an innocent man. After what I heard, I had no doubt that Worm would have tried to hurt me if he was ever given the chance to get a hold of me but saying it and actually doing it were two different things in my book.

  You have no choice but to let him die.

  I reminded myself. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Ava.

  Being aware of people around you, but not able to communicate in any way was so frustrating!

  “Wake up!”

  “Wake up!”

  I shouted at myself over and over. I had to figure out a way to fix this and stop Dekes.

  But then it was as if a light switch had just been flipped and I was on the boat with my parents.

  “Mom? Dad?” I called out, but all they did was look back at me with sad expressions on their faces. Trying to move closer to them, it was as if the boat kept stretching and pulling them further away from me. “Please, don’t leave me!” I cried out as they turned their backs on me. “Please, I need you!” I shouted on a sob.

  Finally my father turned to look at me before moving a little closer, but still out of reach. “You were always a strong woman, Sweet Pea. You need to be that woman again and beat him at his own game.”

  My mom turned around next. “Fight smarter than we did, beautiful girl.”

  I moved to touch them, just to be able to feel them one more time, only to have the switch flipped back to the same darkness that surrounded me before. “No!” I screamed out, tears streaming down my face.

  “Harper, please wake up Sweetheart, let me see those beautiful eyes of yours again.”

  I heard Maverick’s voice, but it sounded like he was so far away when he talked to me. I so desperately wanted to do as he was telling me to, but when I tried to get my body to move, the darkness consumed me once again and my world fell silent.

  HEARING A CONSTANT beeping sound and muffled voices, I tried once again to open my eyes. When they finally popped open, I was greeted with a brightness that instantly blinded me before everything went dark again. “Harper. Sweetheart. Do that again. Open your eyes for me, baby.” Trying again, I was able to keep them open this time and take in my surroundings. The first thing I saw was the man I loved. He looked so tired and so worried that I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and comfort him.

  Reaching out, I felt a pinch in my side so painful it stole my breath away and caused me to retract my arm. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to concentrate on breathing slowly so I didn’t have to feel that kind of pain again. Maverick grabbed a hold of my hand and kissed my palm
before placing it on his cheek. “Easy, ok. Don’t move around too fast.” Getting up out of the chair, he cupped my face and kissed me so gently that it felt as though he was afraid I would break under his touch. Sitting back down in the chair again, he still held my hand in his as if to show me that he was never going to let me go again. “I thought... I thought I’d lost you,” he choked out. “I don’t know what I would have done if Dekes hadn’t found you.”

  At the mention of his name, I recoiled my hand again too quickly in panic and I felt that damn pinch in my side again. Shit! I needed to figure out a way to stop his insane plans of revenge.

  “It’s ok Sweetheart. I promise you nothin՛ and no one are goin՛ to hurt you ever again. You’re safe now.

  I’m not safe! None of us are safe!

  Was all I wanted to shout at him, but I knew I’d have to figure out a way to warn him without costing Ava her life. I wouldn’t sacrifice her in this whole fucked up situation.

  Ever!

  When I tried to talk my mouth was so dry that I couldn’t pull the words out. Looking around, I saw the water cup on the counter and pointed to it. Maverick practically leaped out of his chair. “Shit! Of course. I’m sorry, I should have known you would be thirsty.” Shaking my head, I tried to convey that it was ok as he held the cup out to me, and I started to suck the fresh, cool liquid through the straw. It felt so good going down as it coated my dry throat. “Now, not too much. The doctor said only a little at a time when you woke up.”

  Hearing the door open, I looked over to see a tearful Ava standing in the doorway. “You’re awake! Oh, thank God! I was so worried about you!” She practically yelled as she rushed to my side, but then pulled back at the last second like she remembered my injuries before she gently hugged me.

  Maverick cleared his throat. “I’m goin՛ to go tell the doctor that you’re awake. I’ll be right back, ok?” I nodded my head and noticed the silent tense exchange that passed between Ava and Maverick as he moved past her and out the door.

  “W... what’s going... on between... you and Maverick?” I asked, finally getting my voice to work.

  Dropping into the chair with a huff, she looked at me with pitiful eyes. “Let’s just say I might have gone a little nuts and called my uncle when I found out what had happened to you.”

  My eyes widened, knowing what kind of man he was from what little Ava had told me about him. “Please tell... me that he didn’t come... here?”

  “Well, if I did, I’d be lying to you. He showed up here the day after you were brought in.”

  When she said that, I closed my eyes. I could only imagine how that all went down. “Oh Ava,” I sighed, looking up at the ceiling before returning my eyes to her. “How long... have I been... in here?”

  “You were brought in three days ago. But don’t worry, when he showed up, I told him that everything was fine now, and that he could leave. There was... maybe a... minor incident though between him and Maverick, but he assured my uncle that he was taking care of this. Personally.”

  Knowing how her uncle was, I could only imagine what this small incident had been. “What happened, Ava?” The irritation in my voice couldn’t be missed.

  “It was really no big deal. Just a few guns were pulled on each other and some words were exchanged, but no one was shot, and everything is ok now,” she said quickly, as if she was in a race to get the words out with a bright smile like people pulling guns on each other was an everyday occurrence.

  Our conversation was cut short when Maverick returned with the doctor. “Miss Lancaster, it’s good to see you up and awake. You had a few people worried about you.” Extending his hand to me, he introduced himself, “my name is Dr. Thomas.”

  I slowly placed my hand in his. “How much longer... do I have to stay... here?”

  “That will depend on a few tests I still need to run on you. We need to make sure we’ve got all the internal bleeding under control from the beating you sustained.”

  “Any major injuries... I need to know about?” I asked, needing to know how bad the damage was that they did to me, because everything hurt.

  “Besides a few lacerations, bumps and bruised ribs, the only other concern we had when you came in was a slight swelling you had in the brain. But we did an MRI yesterday and I was pleased to see that all the swelling had considerably reduced. So, if all your other tests come back clear, I’d say you should be out of here the day after tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.” I said a little disappointed that I still had to be here for two more days.

  “I’ll send the nurse in a little bit later to start those tests. You just get some rest, ok?”

  I thanked him again before he turned to leave. I needed to get out of here so I could talk to Ava without anyone else around. She was the only one I knew that could possibly help me with this and see if we could figure out something together. I know she’s got the family connections to help me form a plan and to make sure she stays safe. The only question I had; was her family more powerful and deadly than Dekes?

  “Harper?”

  I was so deep in thought about what to do next that I didn’t hear Maverick call my name until he said it a little louder. “Hmm?”

  “Ava, would you mind givin՛ us a moment?”

  With a glare at Maverick, she leaned forward to kiss me on the forehead. “I’ll just go get some of that wonderful coffee they serve here in the cafeteria and be right back.”

  When the door shut behind her, Maverick took a hold of my hand. “I need to ask you something՛, Harper,” he said, looking down as he took a deep breath. When his eyes moved back up to meet mine again, I could see the pain that he was trying to hide behind them. It made me want to tell him everything that really happened, and not the made-up shit Dekes was forcing me to tell by threatening Ava’s life. “Dekes said that he found you up at a cabin in Gibbs Creek... being... being attacked by Worm. Is that what happened? Were the Slayers the ones who shot Vulture and took you?”

  At the mention of his name, I almost felt ashamed for forgetting about the fact that Vulture was shot trying to protect me. “Is... did... is he alive?” I finally got out.

  Shaking his head, I’m preparing myself to hear that Vulture lost his life protecting me, when he answered. “He’s in bad shape, but no, he’s not dead. In fact, he’s here at this hospital. But after goin՛ under the knife a second time he slipped into a coma. They have no idea when or if he will come out of it.

  Tears began to leak from my eyes and trail down my cheeks. “H... he tried to save me, Maverick. And, now he might lose his life because of me.”

  Leaning forward, he kissed a stray tear away before using his thumbs to brush away the rest. “Not your fault, Sweetheart. He was doin՛ the job I gave him, this is on me, but I need you to answer my question. Who did this to you?”

  Confusion weighed so heavily on my mind with what the right thing to do in this situation was, having never been in one like this before.

  I need to just tell him the truth about what happened, and do it right now while no one else is in the room, this might be my only chance.

  I thought to myself before quickly looking at the door to make sure no one was walking in, then I turned back to face him and made the decision that I was going to tell him the real truth, and hope he could keep Ava safely locked up somewhere or call her uncle to come get her.

  Steeling myself, I began. “The truth is... it’s not what you think. What really happened was...”

  My words were abruptly cut off when the door opened, and both Dekes, and Devin walked in. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything,” he said with a sick smile twisting over his face as he looked directly at me with a raised brow as if he knew what I was about to do and wanted to remind me that Ava’s life, as well as everyone else’s, was on the line.

  “I was just askin՛ her what happened up in that cabin with Worm.” Maverick told him. “This is Dekes, Harper. He’s the one responsible for rescuin՛ you from that cabin.�
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  My only response was to glare at the monster standing before me, who seemed to have Maverick believing he was some kind of hero and the one to rescue me. When in fact, he was the one responsible for everything that had happened to me and Vulture.

  When I didn’t say anything, he just smiled back at me. “No need to thank me, Miss Lancaster, I was just doing my job.”

  Yeah, if your job is being a fucking murderer! Was all I wanted to shout at him.

  “So, what did happen up there, Miss Lancaster?” Dekes asked me as he took a seat, acting like he had so much concern and interest in what really happened to me.

  “What did you mean when you said it wasn’t what I thought, Harper?” Maverick squeezed my hand, drawing my attention back to him.

  Looking into his eyes, I lied. I lied to save our lives right now. “What I meant by that was, it’s not what you think, he didn’t rape me. He tried to, but I fought him off.”

  “I need a name, Harper. Who tried to rape you?” Maverick practically growled.

  I looked over at Dekes. “I’m sure that he’s already told you who it was.” I mumbled, telling myself that if I didn’t actually say his name out loud, I wouldn’t be the one responsible for his death. Dekes would.

  But my hope not to have to do that was crushed when Maverick spoke again. “I want you to tell me his name. I need to hear you say it, Harper.”

  Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I could feel Dekes’ eyes boring into the side of my head. “It... it was Worm.” Saying his name out loud, knowing that I was going to be the cause of someone losing their life for something they didn’t do made me sick to my stomach.

  “That’s all I needed to hear.” Maverick practically growled in a voice so calm that for the first time since I’d met him, I knew I was looking at the monster he kept hidden away from me.

  Clearing his throat, Dekes asked. “Do you mind if I talk to Miss Lancaster alone for a moment?”