Page 53 of Twisted and Tarnished
“That’s horrible!What’s going to happen to those children?”
“Homes will be found for them.I’d like to say that will happen right away but some of the kids, both the orphans and not, need medical care.I don’t know why, but Domino said none of the children were injured in the raid.A couple of the women had small injuries, but none of the innocents were significantly hurt.”
“What about the men?”Delilah only had a few men there she cared what happened to, and it wasn’t to hope they were uninjured.
“My reports say a couple of men died, others were injured.”Hawkeye met her gaze.“Your father and the piece of trash he gave you to were both injured, but not seriously.At least not yet.”
She frowned.“What do you mean?”
“Little dove, don’t you know by now?”He watched her for a few seconds then he spoke again, “My friends will find ways to make all the men of Jericho pay for what they’ve been doing there.And I’m not just talking about how you were beaten and treated like less than a person, though that’s bad enough.They did far worse and they will suffer for it.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, not sure what to say.She had known at the time that some things weren’t right, but for what she thought he was talking about, that had just been normal, at least at the time.“I thought you meant prison.”
“Some will end up there.And once they do, those of us involved will make sure the other inmates know what they’ve done.”An unpleasant smile curved his lips, as if he was pleased by the knowledge of what would happen to the men in prison.It didn’t scare her.It wasn’t because of what he wanted to do to her and she knew him well enough to know he would never turn that look on her.
“And the rest?”Taylynn asked.Delilah shot her a wan smile for asking what she’d been thinking.
“The rest won’t make it to jail.”Hawkeye didn’t look at her, as if he didn’t want to see her reaction.“The ones they can’t get enough evidence to guarantee convictions, or the ones who were particularly horrid to their women, they won’t make it into the legal system.”Now he did turn and look at Delilah.“You are safe.Neither man will ever come for you.You’re mine and I take care of what’s mine.”He watched her face for a moment, and when she didn’t react, didn’t look disgusted by the idea, he tugged her close and kissed the top of her head.
“What about the kids with no mother?”Delilah asked.
Hawkeye watched her for a moment.“They’ll be taken care of.”
“What if I want one of them?Or more?”
“I considered that.I’d like to get one for you but we’re in that one room for at least a few months.I was hoping we could just have the two of us at least until the house is finished.There are a couple of babies that had to be taken to the hospital ...we’ll see how things are when they are ready to be released.”
“The hospital?”she asked, afraid of what had happened.
“They weren’t hurt in the raid, but one of the toddlers had been beaten badly by her father.Another infant was severely malnourished.I don’t know all the details,” he said with a shake of his head.“We’ll work it out.You will have the kids you want.If they’re not from Jericho, we’ll find them somewhere.Trust me.”He leaned close but stopped just short of kissing her.
“I do.”Delilah closed the distance, giving him a quick, chaste kiss as she couldn’t forget Taylynn and Raven across the table watching them.
“Get a room,” Raven said, but his tone was playful, not annoyed or irritated.Hawkeye pulled away, gave her a gentle smile then wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her against him as he turned back to the president.Before he had a chance to say anything, some smart mouthed comment if Delilah knew anything about him, the president’s phone rang.The table fell silent as he answered it.
Raven’s eyes went wide, “Say that again?Which hospital?”he said after a moment.His gaze flew up and he looked at Hawkeye as he lifted one finger and made a quick circle.Hawkeye nodded and lifted one hand in the air, snapping his fingers.The whole room fell silent as Raven hung up the phone.He looked around the silent room, his eyes slightly widened as if he didn’t quite believe what he had to say.
“Spider’s been in an accident.He was rearended on his bike.It’s not good.They’re flying him into Bozeman.”
“Shit.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Fuck.”
“Is he going to live?”
The only voice Delilah could identify was Taylynn’s who’d asked the last.Delilah didn’t know who Spider was, but he was one of the Fallen Angels and that was all that mattered right now.
“I don’t know but we need to get up there and see what we can do.Spider has no family.I’d claim to be his brother, but we’ve got different last names.
“I’ll be his sister.Then we can get him taken care of,” Taylynn said.
“Good.Okay.We need to pack a few things and hit the road.As many of us as we can.”
Delilah looked at Hawkeye, “Are we going?”
“Of course,”
“Then let’s get packed.The sooner we hit the road, the sooner we can get there.”She stood and headed for their room.She might be new there, but she knew how to take care of family.And this was a far better family than the one she’d had before.They didn’t hurt her, they didn’t hurt each other, and they banded together to help one another.She would be happy here, she knew it.
The End
