Page 185 of Daddy's Trust
“Thank fuck,” Ralen said as he crawled out of the hole. “I thought I was going to die in there. Do you know how smallthat space is? Does it even get fresh air? And I don’t think that asshole has had a shower in the last five years.”
“You hid Ralen from the cops?” Dotty asked. “Why? What did he do?”
Ralen frowned. “I didn’t do anything.” Reaching back, he roughly dragged Limpy out, who was trying to make noise behind the tape they’d put over his mouth. Monroe had circled it right round the back of his head, not wanting to risk him saying anything and giving them away.
He seemed to have a black eye that he didn’t have before. She saw Cash give Ralen a questioning look. The other man just shrugged.
“I got mad remembering what he did to the girls.”
“Oh, holy fuck. Who the hell is he?” Dotty asked.
“That’s Limpy,” Addie said. “I saw someone out the window earlier, peering in, and I ran to get Monroe who was in the shower. She got dressed and grabbed the toilet paper holder. I grabbed some hairspray and shaving foam, and we snuck out of the bathroom. Only he was already in the house.”
“He attacked me first,” Monroe said. “Shoved me against the wall and put his hands around my neck. He didn’t even say anything. We didn’t know who he was or what he wanted.”
“I ran at him, shoving him off her,” Addie said. “But then he turned to me, slamming me onto the floor. He had . . . he had a knife and I knew he was going to stab me.”
“Fucking bastard,” Cash snarled down at Limpy who grew even more pale.
“I suddenly remembered the hair spray and sprayed it into his eyes. Then while he was down, I stomped on his balls and then we ran.”
“You stomped on his balls?” Dotty asked, looking shocked.
“That’s my girl,” Cash praised, making her feel a hundred feet tall.
“Then we ran out the door and straight into Ralen and Cash,” Monroe finished the story.
Dotty turned to the guys, “You just happened to be there at the right time?”
Addie winced at the accusation in her voice.
“What are you trying to say? That we came here with him?” Ralen said.
“No, I didn’t think that. It’s just a weird coincidence. Why are you guys here?”
“I’ve come for Addie,” Cash said as he drew her into his chest.
He’d said that before, but she still didn’t understand what he meant, and she wasn’t sure now was the time to ask, with a man bound and gagged on the floor of Monroe’s closet.
“You’ve come for Addie? Why? What do you plan to do with her?” Dotty asked.
“Spend the rest of my life with her.”
Okay.It seemed now that he was here in person with Addie, Cash wasn’t struggling at all to tell her how he felt. He knew that he still had to explain himself. But for the moment, they had something more pressing to do.
Dotty rubbed her head and looked puzzled and pale. She sat down on Monroe’s bed while Addie just stared up at him in shock, with her mouth open.
“I think we can get to that part later,” Ralen said, giving him an incredulous look. “Right now, we need to decide what to do with Limpy here.”
“Do with him?” Dotty asked.
“Yeah, we need to get some answers from him,” Ralen said in a dark voice.
“Answers?” Dotty asked, sounding shocked.
“It’s best if you three don’t know about this next part,” Cash told them. He looked out the window. “It’s fully dark now, but I don’t think we should transport him out of here just yet. We’ve got to sort out a place to take him. I don’t really know anybody in Las Vegas.”
Ralen groaned. “I know who might. Just don’t wanna ask him.”
