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Blackness swirled in my vision, and more blood poured down my forehead. Stunned, I finally gathered my shattered thoughts and screamed. In an instant, I was spun around, and a fist hit me full in the mouth, and I collapsed on all fours. A hard kick landed in my ribs, and wheezing, I gasped and rolled to one side.
Curling in a ball to minimise the damage, I heard my briefcase open and then emptied. A low growl was aimed at me, and I cringed. A second kick rattled on my head, and I screamed loudly, and then someone knelt and grabbed me by the throat.
“Where are they?” a voice snarled; I didn’t know what he was talking about.
Where was what? Hands scrabbled at my clothing, tore my blouse open, and lifted my skirt. Fearing the worse, I shrieked, and those cruel fingers gripped my neck again. I began scratching at him, and my feet hammered the ground. A weight settled over me, and bile rose in my throat. No, this couldn’t be happening!
He pulled my skirt up, ripping it, and fingers groped between my thighs. Violently twisting my hips upwards, I tried and failed to get the man off me. A cruel hand grasped my breast, and I flinched in pain.
“Where are the Marshall papers?” the male voice snarled.
The Marshall letters? This was about them? He forced his fingers between my legs, and my body tensed. My mind was whirling with fear and shock, and I began struggling as the fingers slipped around my panties and tore them from me. No! I would not be raped on my doorstep!
“Where are the fucking papers?” he repeated.
I shook my head as I tried to free my hands, which were pinned to my sides. The assailant’s weight was smothering me, and his fingers crept ever closer to violating me. I screamed one last time, and a fist smashed into my mouth.
“Let her go!” a voice shouted, and the pressure lifted from my throat. Gulping, I screeched the word help, and the attacker was gone. I heard shuffling footsteps, and then polished wing tops appeared. The blows to my head had made it hard for me to focus. Those wingtips faded in and out.
“Please, we need the police. She’s been raped. The Reading Nook near the Rage garage. Hurry, the girl’s bleeding; she needs an ambulance,” a calm voice spoke hurriedly into a phone. A figure bent over me; I cried out weakly and shuffled away. A coat was laid over my hips and legs.
“Sinclair, Miss Montgomery, it’s Earl Kenna.”
I blinked out of swelling eyes and recognised the snow-white hair. Hoarsely, I tried to tell Mr Kenna what the attacker had said, but Mr Kenna covered me with his coat and continued making soothing noises. The entire time Mr Kenna sat near, not caring that his immaculately pressed pants would get dirty. Bless him, Mr Kenna held my hand and made soft sounds while he kept talking on the phone to the emergency services. I couldn’t stop shaking, and my vision remained blurred; I was so grateful for that calming, comforting voice.
Minutes later, blue and red lights appeared, and a police car came screaming to a halt in the middle of the road. Two uniforms jumped out, guns drawn, and aimed at Mr Kenna. Calmly, he told them he was the man on the phone and had witnessed the attack. The officers holstered their weapons and ran over to us. One of them spoke into a radio, and then a second car screeched around the corner, sirens and lights blazing.
An ambulance followed behind, and a third vehicle arrived and began setting up a cordon. The EMTs knelt, taking stock of my injuries. Gently, they rolled me on my side, and I cried out in pain and then laid me back down on a backboard. Gladly, I stopped fighting to stay conscious, well aware of the red and blue lights surrounding me; I gave up the ghost. Darkness swallowed me whole.
Drake
“Police and ambulance outside in the street. A girl’s been attacked,” Lex grunted as he strode into the clubhouse. Drake glanced up and peered around. He counted Phoe, Silvie, Marsha and Artemis. Not one of their women.
“Whereabouts?” Drake asked, getting to his feet.
Lex looked uncomfortable, and Drake got a sinking feeling.
“The Reading Nook, police have the shop cordoned off.” Lex scratched his stomach and stared at Drake. Drake’s body stiffened, and then he left the clubhouse with most of his brothers on his heels. Jett was manning the bar, so he may not be aware the incident involved Sin.
Rage pushed their way through the crowd and saw EMTs’ knelt over a figure lying crumpled on the ground. The EMTs were working hard but not looking frantic. That meant the victim was stable.
“Drake,” Phoe whispered and pointed. A white-haired man stood talking to the police. Apache moved close enough so he could hear, and Drake watched Apache blanch. There was a slight commotion as the EMTs lifted the backboard, and Drake saw a woman’s fragile, slender hand fall off it. As they got closer to the ambulance, Drake’s gaze caught sight of ripped clothes and a figure covered in blood.
“Brother, it’s Sin,” Apache said, drawing close. “Girl’s been attacked and raped. Old dude witnessed and interrupted the attack. Called it in.”
Drake spun on his heel and rubbed a hand over his eyes. Sin and Jett were meant to be an easy, normal courtship. Blood and pain had yet again found one of their women.
“Move Rock, Blaze, and Ezra over to the bar. Get Jett and lock him down; I’ll tell him, no one else.”
“Bit fuckin’ late,” Ace muttered as Jett appeared at the side of the cordon. His worried gaze raked across them, and the tension left his shoulders as Jett spied the four old ladies present and accounted for. Jett ambled over to them and tilted his head in the ambulance’s direction.
“What happened?” Jett asked. Ace stepped behind him, and Apache and Drake moved closer. Jett frowned. Lowrider and Ezra appeared at his sides, and Jett tensed. Tension flooded his body again as he turned slowly and looked at the spot the attack had taken place. Jett’s eyes took in the shop, and the police stood near the doorway but did not enter it.
Anger sparking, his eyes spied the blood showing on the dark ground in the torchlight of the officers attending the scene. Jett’s gaze hit the cordon, stopping people from invading the area. He turned and saw the white-haired man talking to a uniform, his hands mimicking what he’d seen. Jett watched as the old man’s fingers closed around his own throat and showed the officer how he’d witnessed someone being strangled.
Jett finally stared at the ambulance, and he moved. Ace locked arms around him and held him back, and Jett began roaring. Officers turned in Jett’s direction, and the witness appeared shocked. Ezra and Lowrider added their own weight, and they stopped Jett.
“Is Sin fuckin’ in there?” Jett shouted, tossing his head at the stationary ambulance, but its engine was running.
