14

Ruger's heart skipped a beat as he pulled in the gate at the address the man on the phone had given him. He drove a big box truck, that supposedly held the girls he was trading for Krissi. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. He'd done a lot of crazy things and he'd learned long ago how to stay calm while he did what had to get done, now he was having a hard time. He felt like he was green and barely a prospect again.

Slowing the truck to a stop, he closed his eyes for just a second and pushed everything from his mind but the task at hand. He could do this. He had no choice. Not if he wanted to keep Krissi from suffering what some of the Devil's whores had lived through. Or worse.

Ruger shuddered as the memory of his sister's body the night she'd been killed flashed across his mind, only this time she wore Krissi's face. Shaking his head, he put any thought of failure from his mind and squared his shoulders. It was time to get this over with. He popped the door open, climbed down, and turned to face the man who approached.

He was a small man, not more than 5'6” and thick without appearing fat. Ruger scanned him up and down and decided he really didn't want to piss this man off if he could help it, not unless he was sure he could win. Sometimes the tiny ones are the meanest. Almost like they have to make up for the missing size with cruelty.

“You have my girls?” the man asked. From the voice and clipped speech, Ruger knew it was the same man the phone call earlier. The small man wore chaps and a leather kutte with a patch on his right shoulder that said 'V. President”

“I do. They're in the truck but I want to see Krissi before I let you have them.” Ruger had a surprise for the other man in the back of the truck but they wouldn't be opening it before he was ready. Ruger had the key to the padlock in his pocket and he was waiting for the signal that everyone was in place before they opened the truck. The little man stared at him for several seconds, then nodded once as if to say it was a deal.

“She is here, you can see her.” The short man led Ruger away from the truck to a building that he could only see the front of. It had a large door, one big enough he could have driven the truck through, and a smaller, man-size door beside it. The small man went to the small door and unlocked the knob with a key he took from his kutte pocket. Ruger stood just behind the man waiting. The phone in the inside pocket of Ruger's kutte vibrated, two short bursts then a long one. That was the signal, everyone was in place. Now they waited for his signal. Ruger glanced around knowing this man couldn't be here alone, but he didn't see anyone else. Was it possible they thought the Souls would just hand over the girls and had left their V.P. to make the exchange by himself? Ruger's mind raced. Had this man acted without his president's approval when he'd taken Krissi?

The lock clicked and the door swung open.

“What?” the man's head swung back and forth as if searching. “How the hell did you get over there?” he stomped inside, forgetting Ruger behind him as he headed for where Krissi sat on the floor. He advanced on her quickly and before Ruger realized what was going on, the smaller man had reached her and backhanded her across the face, wrenching her head around.

“Go,” Ruger said under his breath, knowing from experience that with the mike he wore, it would be enough for the others to hear.  He clenched his teeth and followed the little man into the building. He wanted to bitch slap the other man, mirror what he'd just done to Krissi, but he held himself back, for now. Before he could reach them, Krissi kicked one foot out and swept the smaller man's feet from underneath him. He fell with a heavy thud. Krissi didn't stop there, she was moving before Ruger realized she wasn't tied, as he'd originally thought, and sitting on the stranger's back. She struggled to catch one flailing hand but once she had it, she slipped a loop of rope from her wrist to his then went for his other arm. The man thrashed and tried to throw Krissi from his back she simply bounced, throwing her weight down on his upper back and forcing the air from his lungs. Most of the fight went out of him and she had little trouble catching his other arm to tie it to the first. Once she had both hands tied she looked up at Ruger and he got his first good look at her face.

“I knew you'd come.” She took a deep breath and winced. The man beneath her started bucking again and Ruger stepped forward, grabbed his hair and pulled the man’s head back until he could see the fire Ruger knew was flashing in his eyes.

“You're already in more shit than you know how to handle. I'd lay still and wait for the rest of what's coming to you, if I were you.” He dropped the head, resisting the urge to slam his face into the concrete. Turning to Krissi, he held out one hand. “Can you stand?”

#

Krissi hesitated only a second before taking his hand. Ruger tugged, pulling her to her feet. She tried, but couldn't hold back the grimace of pain as she made it to her feet. He pulled her against him but held her carefully, as if afraid he would hurt her and ran the tips of his fingers down one side of her throbbing face.

“Is this all?” he kept his voice soft.

“I'm bruised and scraped, maybe a cracked rib, but nothing worse I don't think.” She tried to smile, to reassure him, but stopped when a sharp pain shot through her face.

“Come on, the guys are here.” Ruger kept an arm around her and guided her outside, leaving the man on the floor behind them, kicking his feet as he tried to roll over.

Sadist appeared in the doorway, a pistol in his hand. “Need any help in here?” Sadist’s eyes narrowed as they settled on Krissi's face.

“Just him.” Ruger jerked one thumb over his shoulder to where the Devil lay.

Sadist's eyes flicked to the other man then back to Krissi. “He do that to you?”

“Some of it, but he wasn't alone.”

“We've already taken care of the guys outside.” Sadist moved past them as he went to deal with the man on the floor.

“Come on, let's get you somewhere I can look at you.” Ruger led her outside.

Krissi looked around but all she saw was what looked like an empty fenced yard and a big truck. It looked like a moving truck but had no logo on the side. Slowly, some of the men from the bar appeared in the small circle of light cast by the bare bulb hanging next to the door.

“Need help in there?” one of the men asked.

“Sadist is inside. I think he's got it handled but you might go check.” Ruger kept her pulled against his side as they stepped away from the door and let another man who's name she didn't know get by.

A third man Krissi didn't know, tall and bald, stepped forward. “Did they do this to your face, miss?”

“Yes, but I don't know who exactly.”

“No worries, we'll take care of it.” He turned to Ruger. “Take her back to the club house. We'll wrap up here then head back. Have Chris look her over and make sure she doesn't need to be seen my someone else. Here, take my bike. We're going to need the truck.” The bald man tossed a keyring at Ruger, who caught it by reflex. “I'll see you both soon.” He turned away, going back into the darkness he'd emerged from.

“Tuck,” Ruger called beside her. “Where'd you leave your bike?” On the edge of the light the big man pointed down the street. “About 500 yards down that way.”

Ruger turned and looked at her. “You okay to walk or you want me to carry you?”

She looked around, she couldn't see anyone else but she could hear movement. From the sound of it there were probably a half dozen men out in the darkness, maybe more. “I'll walk.” She clenched here teeth and walked slowly, doing her best not to let anyone see that every step sent spikes of pain through her leg and hip. She wasn't certain what was wrong but she knew she'd have one hell of a bruise the next day. They made it a couple hundred feet down the road before Ruger stopped and turned to face her.

“You through being tough or you going to struggle the whole way to the bike?”

“I'm fine.”

He took a deep breath, let it out in a rush and looked around. “Gizmo!” he waved one hand. “Come over here a minute.” She could see the men now that she and Ruger weren't in the light looking out into the darkness. One of them broke away from the group and trotted in their direction.

“What you need?” The man asked. Well, she assumed he was a man from the way Ruger spoke to him. His face was fresh and almost unfinished looking, he wasn't as tall as Ruger, but he was nowhere near as short as the man they'd left inside the building.

“Stand here with Krissi while I go get Tuck's bike. She's hurting and doesn't want to admit it. I don't want her walking all that way in so much pain.” The younger man looked back and forth between Ruger and Krissi for a few seconds.

“Sure, no problem.”

Ruger turned and left, walking much faster than he'd been when Krissi was by his side. She watched until he disappeared into the darkness then turned to the man beside her.

“Gizmo, huh?”

He lifted one corner of his mouth. “Yeah, that's what they call me.” She wasn't sure what it was about him, maybe the fact that Ruger trusted him to stay with her, but he made her feel safe. Well, not as safe as she felt with Ruger but definitely better than if she'd been standing her alone. It was only a couple of minutes before she heard a bike roar to life and rumble closer. Turning toward the sound she saw Ruger ride up on an unfamiliar bike, this one was newer, though no less well cared for, and had a traditional fork instead of the chopper front end Ruger's had.

“Looks like my ride's here.” Krissi turned to look at to Gizmo as she spoke, then turned back as Ruger pulled the bike up beside them. He slowed to a stop then set his feet on the ground, bracing for her to get on. Setting her teeth, she put her hands on his shoulders and curled her fingers around the shoulder openings on his kutte as she lifted her leg up over the bike. Damn that hurt. Once she was on, her feet on the pegs and her arms wrapped around his waist she laid her head against his back and he took off. The rumble of the bike made every sore muscle, every bruise, and her throbbing ribs ache. She curled her hands into fists and let the tears she couldn't hold back stream silently down her face.