Chapter 24
Welcome to the party, pal.
-Die Hard
James
“How long is this going to take, Payton?” A muffled voice whispered.
My eyes felt heavy, like I’d been sleeping really hard. Kind of like when I took Nyquil for a cold. My eyelids didn’t want to open, and it took me a long time to finally pry them apart, but everything was fuzzy.
“His eyes are opening now. Oh, Jesus, I’m going to get fired. I’m going to lose my license.” Payton whispered sadly.
“Oh, shut up. You just gave him the meds. You didn’t steal them from the Pixus like I did.” Cheyenne groaned.
She sounded worried as well, and it was starting to make me curious. Why on earth would they be stealing drugs? Why did my head feel like it was filled with cotton? Why did my chest feel like something was sitting on it? What the hell was shoved up my dick?
“James?” Winter asked.
I blinked my eyes furiously, trying to clear the sleep from them. It took a couple of minutes, but I finally made out Winter’s bright red hair, as well as Payton’s pink, and Cheyenne’s, Blaine’s, and Ember’s blonde.
“What the hell?” I croaked.
Another face leaned in and surveyed my face.
Sebastian.
He looked haggard. Bags resided under his eyes making it look like he hadn’t slept in well past the normal amount of time. His beard nearly looked unkempt, which was a rarity for him. He was a neat freak Marine. They didn’t allow their hair to get unruly.
Then a thought hit me. Although I saw Winter, Cheyenne, and the rest of the girls, I didn’t see Janie and I didn’t see Shiloh.
“Where’re my girls?” I grated out.
It felt like I’d deep throated a mace. Jesus, my throat rivaled my chest.
Then little things started to click into place. The silence from my question started my brain working again, and panic hit me. I remembered riding to work, stopping at a stop sign, texting Sam, and then laying down flat against the asphalt. Then nothing.
“What’s wrong? Cheyenne, please tell me. Please,” I begged.
I hadn’t realized that I was about to cry until my vision went blurry again. Blinking the tears away, I focused on my sister, and when she still didn’t tell me, I turned my stare to Sebastian. His eyes, although haunted, were also filled with fury.
“They’re dead.” I finally said, horror filling my voice.
Sebastian shook his head. “Janie’s fine. Shaken, but fine. Sam’s got her. I know where Shiloh is, too. But...I need you to get her out. It’s been two days, and if we wait much longer, they’re just going to kill her.” Sebastian explained.
I’d begun ripping out IVs and removing shit that was stuck to me before he’d even finished. It was when I started to stand that I realized that the stupid thing was still in my dick. “Tell me how to get this out.” I demanded pointing at the offending area under my gown.
Cheyenne blushed, and left the room, as did everyone but Payton. “Want me to do it?”
“Just tell me what to do.” I growled as I started to rip the gown off when I realized it’d be leaving me naked in front of my best friend’s wife, and stopped.
“Okay, here’s what you’ve got to do.” She explained quickly, leaving me the tools necessary, and left the room.
With a deep breath, I stood on shaky legs, barely suppressing the desire to puke my guts up. The only thing that kept me from doing it was sheer force of will. I didn’t have time, and it’d hurt like a motherfucker if I did.
Pants and a shirt were left on the end of the bed. Slipping into them as best as I could without bending at the waist, I continued to ignore the ungodly pain I was in and slid my feet into my socks, but stopped before I got the boots on. There was just no way I was going to be able to do it myself.
“Cheyenne,” I called, however it didn’t come out to well, so I cleared my voice, and called again, more loudly this time. “Cheyenne!”
She came in quickly, took in the situation, and dropped down to her knees. “I seem to remember the opposite of this happening when we were kids.”
I smiled slightly at her attempt to lighten the mood, but didn’t go much further than that.
Once my boots were on, I raised my hand to her, and she grabbed on to my arm, lifting with me as I stood to my feet. Slowly.
Once I was out in the hall, Payton shoved two pills in my hand and I swallowed them dry. “What’d I just take as we walked towards the elevator?”
“A pain pill and an antibiotic. You didn’t finish it in your drip.” She explained as she pressed the button on the elevator.
A woman’s panicked voice from behind us made the girls turn around, trying to shield me with their bodies, but they’re luck wasn’t with them that day. I was a good foot taller than even the tallest one. They were shit out of luck from the get go.
However, when the elevator beeped and the doors open, I didn’t stop for the woman that was running towards us, yelling that I shouldn’t be out of bed. I just trudged forward, and leaned my elbow against the far wall, trying my hardest not to fall down.
“Where are we going?” I asked the wall.
“They’re holding her at a cabin out by Caddo Lake. You’ll have to climb a tree.” Sebastian’s voice sounded tired.
Easy Peasy. Climb a tree. Two days after being shot in the chest. No problem. Things could be worse, I could be missing a body part, I suppose.
“Okay,” I agreed readily.
I’d do anything when it came to Shiloh. As long as Janie was safe while I did it, I didn’t care what I had to do. I’d tear down entire cities to get to that woman.
I made it to the car before I passed out again.
It was when I was being physically lifted from the car like a child being lifted under his armpits that I came awake to find Sam staring me in the face. His eyes were cold and hard. Copper fucking fire.
“You awake?” He snapped.
“Yes,” I croaked.
“Good. We got you to about fifteen feet of the tree we expect you to climb. We’ve got you some gear, and we’ll help you as much as we can, but you’re going to have to strap yourself to a limb, because we’re leaving you there.” He informed me.
I nodded in understanding, looking around and noticing that all the men were there, Luke and Downy, as well as about thirty men dressed in their Dixie Wardens MC cuts. I was happy to find the women gone. Who they were with and where they were at fluttered through my exhausted brain, but I trusted the men to take care of them. Trusted them with everything that I possessed.
“What am I looking for, exactly?” I asked as I shuffled to the tree Sam had indicated.
“Anything that moves that isn’t Shiloh.” Sebastian answered as he slipped a bulletproof vest over his head.
I nodded in agreement, and stepped up to the tree, laying my foot over the loop that they were going to use to hoist me up there. Elliott bent down, looped it over my boot and nodded before stepping back with the other half of the rope that was over a branch at the very top.
Lucky for me this was a weeping willow. The dangling greenery provided good cover, and the thick, fat branches would hold my weight well. They’d chosen well, which didn’t surprise me. They were experts, just like me.
Jack came up behind me, slipped me into a jacket, being careful to watch my wounded side, and I laughed lightly. “Jesus, can y’all hold my dick so I can take a piss, too?”
Chuckles sounded, but I didn’t move much more. I couldn’t. I was so freaking tired I could barely breathe.
“Sorry man, I draw the line at putting makeup on you.” Jack quipped as he started rubbing in the camouflage paint that would hide the pale complexion of my face, as well as my arms. I noted that he himself was decked out in much the same attire, but didn’t put any further thought into it.
Sam handed me my rifle and an ear bud once Jack was done. I threw the strap over my shoulder, stuck the earpiece in my ear, and braced myself before giving Elliott a thumbs-up. Then I was moving.
I gritted my teeth against the jolt as I hit the trunk of the tree with my body, but never called out for a halt.
Maneuvering myself into the tree was another matter. By the time I’d managed to do so, I was clammy and nauseous, as well as seeing black spots.
A trickle of warmth leaked down my abs, and disappeared into my jeans, and I knew I was bleeding again.
Reaching into my pocket, I withdrew the pads that Cheyenne had stuffed in their as we left the room, and shoved them unceremoniously against my wound before tying it with the Ace Bandage.
“We’re moving in. It’ll take us about twenty minutes to get there. There’re a couple of marshes we have to cross before we’ll even make it on the grounds. Then there’re the trip wires and motion detector devices we have to counteract. How many men are outside?” Sam’s authoritative voice asked in my ear.
I brought my scope up to my shoulder and started counting. “Fifteen outside. All armed with AR-15s. I can see two in the windows.” I called back quietly.
I scanned the windows of the house one by one until I came to the very last one. I don’t know if it was instinct, or just basic knowledge that she would be in that room, but with everything that was in me, I knew she was behind that wall.
It took everything I had to turn away from that window, but I continued to scan the area. Listening while everyone continued to check in on where they were, and Sam gave instructions.
“All right, James. We’re in position. Take the ones out on the edges. All that you can. When you’ve got them all down, let me know.” Sam commanded.
Piece of cake.
My sniper rifle was sporting a shiny new silencer, which was also why it’d gained a good three pounds in weight. Resting my back against the trunk of the tree I was in, and the stock up against my cheek, I started taking my shots. All fifteen men, who were scattered over an acre of land, went down within ten minutes.
Not my best, time wise, but it would do. “Alright, you’re green.”
A wave of exhaustion seemed to pour through me after I was done, but I didn’t remove my eye from the activity surrounding the small cabin. Although I scanned the area, I mostly kept my scope trained on the furthest window, praying I’d see my girl.
***
Shiloh
I’d nearly killed myself two separate times.
Although Glen had never returned to make his threat a reality, I knew it was just a matter of time. I’d tried to escape not even ten minutes after arriving at this shit hole, only to be caught as soon as I’d tripped one of the motion detectors, enabling them to find me easily.
Then I’d played possum, acting as if I was passed out, and tried to escape again, only for the same results.
Needless to say, the men were not happy campers. They didn’t like that a woman had given them the slip, and were more than happy to show me their displeasure.
My escape attempts had only earned me another broken arm, the same one that had just healed only a few short months ago, a broken leg, and a broken nose. My jaw was still just as broken as it’d been in the van, and I passed out every time I tried to push even the minutest amount of bread into my mouth that they’d provided me.
Thus, I’d stopped trying to eat. Only drinking the water from the tap with a straw that they’d been nice enough to provide me.
Every time I looked at my broken arm the bile would rush up my esophagus, and I’d have to choke it back down, or risk suffocating on my own vomit since I couldn’t open my mouth enough for the vomit to escape.
I hadn’t seen Glen since the van incident, and prayed to all that was holy that I wouldn’t. There was just no way on earth I’d be able to keep him away from me. I had no fight left in me, which was why I’d been laying in the same spot on the lumpy futon for the last half a day.
A sound, almost imperceptible, whispered through the stagnant room, and I moved my eyes, looking for the source. When I didn’t see anything, I let my eyes drift closed, thinking this was surely the end if I was hallucinating, when the same sound, louder now, came from behind my closed lids.
My eyes snapped open, sure now that I’d heard the sound, and I came face to face with a green man.
Great. My fucked up mind had conjured The Hulk. Wonderful.
Then The Hulk gently picked me up in his massive arms, and carried me towards the bedroom door.
I was like a ragdoll in The Hulk’s arms, limp and in pain, with no recourse but to lie there, and go wherever The Hulk wanted me to go.
“Got her.” The Hulk said.
My eyes closed on their own accord, staying closed as the sway of my body being moved at a high rate of speed caused my broken bones to jolt with each pounding step. Bile rose in my throat again, and I swallowed convulsively to keep it down. Then, blessedly, I passed out again.
***
Sam
“James? Copy?” I called quietly.
No answer.
“James.” I snapped.
No answer.
“Sebastian, I need whoever you left behind to check on him. Make sure he doesn’t fall out of the tree.” I called into my mic.
“Copy.” Sebastian answered.
Shiloh was curled into my arms like a Cabbage Patch Doll. I noted that her nose and jaw were well beyond swollen, as was the arm she’d broken a couple months prior. Her hair was matted into a messy ponytail at the top of her head with blood, indicating a head wound of some type.
It’d taken a while for the thought of a sister to grow on me, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without her. To know that she’d suffered at the hands of these men set me on a course that I’d never thought to be on. I’d always prided myself in making sure that I complied with the law, but over the past four years, the letter of the law hadn’t done me shit. In fact, it’d only hindered me when all I wanted to do was save the woman I loved.
It took us fifteen minutes, exactly, from the time we left the cabin to get back to the tree that we’d left James in. Everyone was gathered around, looking up at James hanging from the harness we’d managed to get him in.
“What are y’all waiting for?” I snapped to the men ogling James. “Get him down.”
“How?” Diablo, one of the members of the MC asked.
“Climb up there, dipshit.” Sebastian said as he, too, walked up.
James was a big man, so with him being dead weight, and not being able to help at all, it was some time before they were able to get him down safely.
Although he looked a little paler than he’d been originally, he was still breathing and had a steady and strong pulse.
We loaded James and Shiloh into the back of my Suburban, and carefully drove out, leaving Sebastian and Silas to figure out what to do about Glen. Although this battle had been won, the war was far from over.