Page 55 of Tell Me No Lies

He’ll get to them eventually. And when he does, Piper and I need to be long gone. Rick's a perfect example of how groups like this become what they are. I can only hope someday someone who has less to lose than I do gives him what he deserves.

I pull to a stop next to where Piper stands with a group of seven women and girls, flinging open my door before moving to the one behind it. I get it open and go to the back, lifting the hatch so we can pile everyone in as fast as possible. I don't have quite enough seats, so the mother and her two daughters take the bench seat while the other four sit on the floorboards of the back end. As soon as everyone’s loaded inside, I close the hatch, the side door and get back behind the wheel, ready to put all of this behind me.

In every way possible.

Piper's cheeks are pink and her eyes are bright as she swivels in her seat, talking to the little girls who are eerily silent. Their non-reaction to what just happened drags me right back to Piper’s, and I reach for her, needing to get my hands against her skin. Gripping her fingers with mine, I lift her palm to my mouth, pressing my lips to the palm.

Her eyes leave the little girls and come to mine, resting on my face. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head. It's the best I can manage. I'm so far from okay, part of me worries I won't get back there again without Piper beside me. With her here I know I’ll do whatever it takes to be better than normal. To finally dig my way out of the hole I was almost buried in.

Without her I’d probably fall deeper.

I glance over, wanting to get my eyes on her. Instead of making me feel better, seeing what she’s still wearing has me frowning. “We left your clothes.”

Piper shakes her head. “No we didn't. We left the clothes Myra picked out for me at the Goodwill.” She shrugs. “There's nothing I need in that hotel.” She flips open the glove box and fishes out her wallet, lifting it up. “This is the only thing I brought that really belongs to me.” She pats the side pocket of her skirt. “And my phone, I guess.”

“Are you sure?” I inhale slowly before making an offer I’m not thrilled to make. “I'll go back if you want me to.” I don't want to, but if there's anything in her luggage she wants, I’ll figure out how to get my hands on it.

But Piper's nose wrinkles. “I packed fully expecting to abandon everything we had, so it can all fucking rot there as far as I'm concerned.” Her eyes widen, like she just realized what she said. A tight smile curls her lips as she peeks into the seat behind us. “Sorry.”

It’s such a Piper thing to cuss in front of little kids that I relax a little. It's done. I don't have to watch her hide who she is and pretend to be someone else to make self-centered men think she's worthy of being mine.

Piper looks out the windshield as I get on the interstate. “What now?”

“Now we go get everyone else and drive to Canada.”

Piper glances in the back. “I think we should keep the trio with us. We have the most room.”

“Whatever you want, Sugar.” I rest our joined hands on the console between us. Letting my thumb drag over her skin, I brace myself. “What you said in the laundry room about Rick not being the first…”

Piper barely shakes her head, eyes moving pointedly to the mother and kids behind us. “We can talk about that later.”

I don't want to talk about it later. I want to talk about it now. I want names. I want locations. I want schedules. I want to punish everyone who's ever hurt her. I want them to suffer. I want them to bleed. I want—

“You have to calm down.” Piper's voice is low and soothing as her free hand comes to rest on top of mine. “These women are already scared. They need to feel like they can trust you, and you look like you’re about to murder someone.”

She’s not off the mark, but I would do anything for her, so I relax the death grip I have on the steering wheel and grit my teeth against the red edging my vision. “We should call Christian so he can start packing up.” I nod my head at where I dropped my phone into one of the cupholders. “Dial his number.” Piper's got a free hand and both mine are occupied. I'm not letting go of the steering wheel or her, so for the time being, she's going to have to do whatever else needs done.

She lifts it up, turning it my way to reveal the security screen. I give her my code without a second thought. This trip has been fucking awful, but it has made me accept something important. I want Piper to become a part of everything that's mine. She can have every password. She can wear all my clothes. Eat all my food. Paint my walls whatever color she wants. Decorate my house in whatever way will make her want to live in it.

Whatever it takes to keep her with me.

The phone line starts to ring, the sound echoing through my speakers. Christian answers immediately. “How's it going?”

“We have everybody and we’re on our way to you.” A little more of the tightness in my chest eases as I give him the good news.

We did it. We got these women out. And we did it with relative ease. Not a single one of them was traumatized in any way. No one had to run. No one had to fight. No one had to hide.

With the exception of Piper, but that's something we’ll have to discuss later.

“You’re kidding.” Christian’s voice moves away from the phone as he relays what I just told him to everyone else. Then to me, he says, “That’s amazing.” There’s a pause and I’m not shocked when he asks, “Did everything go okay? Is anyone hurt?”

“None of us are hurt.” I smirk, thinking of Rick laying on that laundry room floor, eyes full of aerosol, mouth full of blood, ribs aching. “We were able to slip away during a fire evacuation.”

“Was there a fire?” Christian asks the question carefully.

Piper groans. “If you want to know something, just ask.” She huffs out a breath. “But for your information, I didn’t set anything on fire. I do have some self-control.”

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