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I spit onto the ground as my mouth fills with distaste. That girl I pulled off the ground was covered head to toe in bruises, lashes, so many fucking wounds on her body it was like connecting the dots of horror.
I pull up to our gate and nod to our prospect, Charlie, as he opens it for me. The white van holding the girl and the baby pull in behind me.
Why did I bring her here?
Maybe it’s because I have too many questions for her.
Where did you come from?
What are you to Santiago?
How long have you been there?
What the hell did he do to you?
But even as I tell myself the only reason I brought her here is to grill her, the burning in my gut tells me otherwise. I don’t want to delve into any deeper reason when I don’t even know the girl. I don’t know her fucking name, but just seeing her on the ground as she crawls in desperation clawed at my insides much like she clawed at the ground. It did something to me.Shedid something to me. But I’m not ready to analyze it yet.
I roll to a stop in front of the mechanic’s shop and park my bike next to the other. Pops and Pascal are already here. West is driving the van with the mysterious girl. The rest of the guys are still on their way back. Jex is here somewhere since he doesn’t ride anymore. From what I was told before I left the compound, Santiago got out. Whether he has people at the border to inform him or if it was just pure luck, he wasn’t there when we ambushed the place. We took down a lot of his men, though, so that’s a win. We also got some guys from other countries who were here to buy the girls. But our biggest victory of all, is the fact that we were able to save most of the girls. Three girls that were held in that cellar were already dead when we got there. We were too late. Their emaciated bodies stared helplessly into nothingness. Their crippled limbs nothing more than skin and bones. Their skin was gray. Who knows how long they’ve been held in that cell. But we can’t save everyone. We’ll consider it a victory. One step closer to taking Santiago down.
“Hey.” I say to my pops as I turn off my bike. He’s got a thick red blood streak down his cheek. “We should have stayed down there. Waited for him to come back or something. Went looking for him.”
“Nah.” Pops shakes his head. “He was too far gone. It’ll be hard to get to him now. He’ll be heavily guarded and I’m thinkin’ we should be expecting some kind of retaliation.”
I scoff. “He can try.”
He slaps my back and chuckles. “Yeah, I know.”
“So, what’s next steps? We should move while his trail is hot.” I’m buzzing with the need to kill these sick bastards. I got to quite a few of them before I found the girl, but then my focus was on her. My kill count today is way down, and I don’t like it. My adrenaline is still high.
“No, Aziel. We need to cool off. Regroup and figure out where he is next. We took down a major location today. He’s taking a hit financially and he’s going to be pissed. Wait. What the—what the fuck?” He barks out, and when I look over my shoulder, I see West opening the back of the van, revealing two terrified girls.
I look at my dad. “I’ll fill you in later. Okay?”
He looks annoyed as he pulls a cigarette out of his pocket and lights it. “You sure will. Do you even know what the fuck you’re doing?”
I laugh. “Not a clue.”
I watch as West reaches for the girl and she twitches away from him, holding the smaller child as she crawls backwards to the back corner.
“Hey, stop!” I bark, making the girl flinch even more. I wince. I meant to shout at West, but the girl thinks I’m yelling at her. “Sorry. West, back off. I’ve got it.”
He looks between the girl and me for a moment and then shrugs, walking off to Jex who just walked outside. I ignore the rest of the guys who are just pulling up. Usually, we go get a drink at the bar from Haley before meeting for church. Today I don’t have time for that. I have two random girls here, who don’t even want to be here by the looks of it. I figure no one here will be happy to have them here either. We don’t let just anyone into the clubhouse. So having some of Santiago’s prisoners or girls, whatever they are, staying here, will put them all on edge. They’re going to be a weakness and a liability here at the club. But for the life of me I couldn’t tell West to shut the damn door and haul them over to New Mexico with the rest of the girls.
I walk over to them, watching as she stares at me with her terrified eyes. They’re rounded and double the size they should be, the blue seeming endless as she watches me. The littlest one looks to be curled under the arm of the bigger one, hiding her face. She looks like she wants to slip inside her body. The trust they have between each other is clear, their bond is obvious. Are they siblings? Allies in this terrible world? Maybe…no.No way in hell are they mother and daughter. She looks too young. She’s way too young.
Right?
I get to the edge of the truck and extend my hand towards her. “Come with me.”
She shakes her head. “I-I don’t… where are we?”
I give her a sharp smile. “Welcome to America.”
Tears spring to her eyes and her jaw drops. “W-We’re in America?”
“Yeah, come on.”
She looks like she’s about to jump into my arms in excitement, but then she remembers her life. Her eyes narrow and her mouth screws up in apprehension. “Why am I here?” Her blonde hair, which I’m betting usually shines and looks like silk, is filled with dirt and grime as she uses the waves of her tresses to shield herself from me. She uses it as a protection, although all it does is make her more stunning. Stunning and broken. Her small, long limbs make her seem childlike, but the curves I noticed as I hauled her into the van made me second guess myself.
