Page 33 of Ricochet

I lifted my ski mask to my forehead, revealing my face, and offered her a sweatshirt to cover her naked, wounded body. I didn’t want to look at her, but some of the injuries she’d suffered needed medical attention. I didn’t have to be a fucking doctor to see that.

She carefully crawled toward me and slipped the garment over her head, her emaciated body swimming in the threads. Each of the other girls took sweatshirts I’d offered and slipped them on as well.

“My name’s Nick. I’m going to get you out of here, okay?” I directed my gaze toward Sapphire. “You’re going to need to get checked out. You need a doctor.”

“Are …. a-a-are you g-g-going to call the p-p-police? P-p-please don’t call them.” Her chest quaked with a sob.

I didn’t trust the police, and apparently, neither did she. But what else could I do? A thought popped in my head—a conversation I’d had with Rev.

He’s a good man, that DeMarcus. You ever in trouble? Ask for him.

“I’m gonna call a good guy, okay? A friend.” Christ, I hoped he was a good guy, otherwise I’d have to kill one of Rev’s old friends. “And I promise he won’t touch you.”

Her face spasmed, as if a war against whether to trust me raged on inside her head. “You’ll s-s-stay with us?”

“I’ll be watching. But I can’t be here when they come, okay? I hurt those men, really bad, and they’ll be after me.” I lurched forward at the panic in her wide eyes and set my palm on the floor for balance. “But I won’t leave you alone until you’re safe. You hear? I’ll be watching.”

She looked past me toward the door, maybe gauging her chances if she took off, and gave a shaky nod.

Setting my hand on my knee, I braced to push myself up, but the girl’s body collided with my chest, almost knocking me back. She clutched me tight, shivering against me, and I wrapped my arms around her. “Hey, it’s okay.”

She broke down crying. A small, trembling little girl who’d suffered more hell than most girls her age, had built a measure of trust and felt safe with me. I wanted to hold her and tell her to hang in there, and not let the shit pull her under, but I knew better. I knew the days that’d follow would be filled with nightmares. I knew her hell had only just begun, and I wished I could take that from her, draw her pain into me and use it to punish them the way she herself couldn’t.

“I want my mom.” Her muffled voice vibrated against my chest, as she buried her face in my jacket.

The simple request reminded me how young and innocent she was, like a lamb ravaged by wolves. Flames roared inside my blood at the same time a metallic taste coated my tongue, where I’d bitten the inside of my cheek.

I nodded, gripping her tight. “You’re going home. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get back to your mom.”

She sat up from me, wiping tears from her sunken eyes. “I’m Danielle.”

“Danielle.” I looked her straight in the eye. “After what I did, those men will never hurt you again. I promise you that. They will never hurt you.”

More tears slipped down her cheek, and I gripped her shoulders, bringing her to her feet.

“Do me a favor. I don’t want you to go into that room. I want you to stay with your friends over there, okay? All of you stay together.” I pointed behind me. “I won’t let anyone come through this door unless it’s my friend. Got it?” I didn’t want to leave them there. Felt like I’d dropped them inside a shark cage after being attacked and abandoned ship. I couldn’t risk being seen, though. Too much rested on staying anonymous.

Giving a sharp nod, Danielle backed herself beside the other girls, taking the hand of the blonde to her right.

With quick strides, I made my way to the back bedroom and yanked the bedspread from the bed, gathering it up and tucking it under my arm. Theresa Cruz, the ring’s recruiter, had been killed separately from the others, and from her bloody pocket, I nabbed the cellphone tucked inside, dialed the police station, and asked for officer DeMarcus Corley.

“This is Corley.” His humorless voice carried through the line.

“I need an ambulance at The Pantheon Motel. Room three-three-five. Bring a coroner.”

“Who is thi—”

I hung up the phone and tossed it onto Theresa’s mangled body.

Returning to the living room, I draped the bedspread across the girls’ bare legs where they’d settled in the corner. “You’re going home,” I assured them.

The sounds of Julius’s suffering bled through the bedroom door. His pain had only just begun. After all, he was the one who’d shot my son in the back, having already taken his turn with my wife.

Slipping my mask back into place, I headed back to the bedroom where he and Jonathan had tortured Sapphire.

Julius lay bleeding out of small cuts all over his body, chunks of flesh I must’ve removed with the hunting knife I’d been holding when I came to. In all honesty, I couldn’t recall, but his widened eyes and the way he kicked back in some pathetic effort to get away from me told me all I needed to know.

I crouched in front of him and the bastard probably would’ve gnawed his own arm to get away from me. “So, I thought I’d take you somewhere nice and intimate, where we can continue our play. It’ll be quiet. No one around for—well, miles, to hear you scream. How does that sound?”