Page 19 of Wildcat

“Are you Cici? Just nod for me if you are. Good, nice to meet you, Cici, I’m Wildcat. We’re here to take you back to your parents. No, listen to me, honey. No one knows what you just went through, but please stay with me for a few minutes. They grabbed you yesterday and we are here now to take you back. What about the other women? How long have they been held against their will? I’m not trying to upset you but, Cici, this only works if you want to live. Fight, sweetie, with everything in you, and just maybe this will take a turn and you’ll survive. I didn’t say you’ll be okay because I’m not going to lie to you, nothing is ever going to be ‘okay.’”

“You think? How do you know that? I don’t want my parents to know what they did to me. Wildcat, I don’t feel too good.”

Looking at her color, she seems a bit grayish-white. When I take a closer look its then I see the puddle of blood underneath her. Son of a bitches.

“Cici, hey, honey, listen to me. A few years ago, something similar happened to me. Yeah, I’m telling the truth and believe me, I wanted to die. And sometimes I still do but then they win, and I won’t let them win. Cici, did they sodomize you? This is very important, please tell me. Promise, I won’t say a word to your parents. Hey, Peanut, get Malcolm in here right now.”

She must recognize the urgency in my voice because she runs out screaming for Malcolm. That’s when it hits me, where the hell are all the assholes responsible for this human destruction? Then I hear the first wail and it brings joy to my heart. That tells me Shadow is at work and we will be listening to her special kind of music for some time. I lean down and look Cici right in the eyes.

“You hear that? They will pay and continue to pay until Shadow’s done. Then she will put them to ground. None of them will walk away from this or live to tell their sick stories. That I can promise you, beautiful girl.”

The tears roll down her cheeks. I move the blanket Peanut covered her with to check how badly she’s bleeding. I see Enforcer making his way over with Yoggie.

“Need something to cut through that cuff and lock. It’s not a standard cuff so whatever you can and as fast as you can. She’s lost a lot of blood, and from the disaster on her arm they were shooting her up with something. Dehydrated, beaten, raped, and sodomized in less than twenty-four hours. I hope to Christ Shadow takes twice as long with them.”

Yoggie reaches into a bag and pulls out a huge keychain with keys on it. I have no idea but watch as he patiently goes through each key. When he puts in a key that opens the cuff, I hear a soft whimper but nothing else. I feel Cici’s wrist for a pulse and it’s there but faint and thready.

I feel his presence before I see him. Malcolm is moving quickly to me, Avalanche following with the huge duffel bag. When he’s close, Malcolm reaches for me, squeezing tightly for just a second. Then he turns his attention to the person on the floor covered in a blanket only. Cici’s arms are now free and Peanut is rubbing them to get circulation flowing back through. When Yoggie gets to where her legs are cuffed, he looks once then twice before his eyes find mine.

“These on her ankles are police-issued handcuffs. Need to talk to Sheriff George, maybe one of the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood followers is on a police force somewhere. Not here in Timber-Ghost, but close by. Come on, Malcolm, look at her, she needs medical attention now.”

I move so Malcolm can assess Cici’s condition but can’t see his face. When his body tenses up, I know he’s getting the full picture now.

“Hurry up, Yoggie, need to check out her injuries. Especially the one bleeding so heavily. I’m going to try and start an IV to get some fluids into her. Quickest way to rehydrate her.”

As we all work to keep Cici alive, it dawns on me that today we won. We not only rescued Cici, but all these other women and young girls are coming back to the ranch with us. And in time they will realize they are given the best gift of all: a second chance.

Another wail, louder this time, hangs in the air as they come more frequently. I can’t help the smile that covers my face, knowing they will all get what they deserve. When I glance down, Cici is looking at me, eyes still filled with tears but she has a tiny smile on her face. Then I look to Malcolm, who is trying to keep his feelings from Cici, but I’ve known the man my entire life. It’s killing him to see the damage done to her. Though when he lifts his head and takes in both Cici and me smiling as we hear another pain-filled shout, he then smiles right along with us. Yeah, today is a great day as the good folks won this fight, though the war is still raging.

NINETEEN

‘MALCOLM’

MALTY

The damage that was done to Cici in such a short period of time shocks me. How can a human being do that kind of cruelty to someone and not have any repercussions? When Yoggie finally got the cuffs off Cici and we tried to pull her off that piece of torture wood, she let out such a high-pitched screech it hurt my ears. I know I’ll never forget the agony behind it. So with the help of Yoggie, Panther, Avalanche, and Enforcer we slowly flipped her to the side, and my God, her entire back had been whipped and torn to shreds. Not only was she in pain because of the injuries, but she was placed on the board while bleeding so the blood dried. Fuck. I look around and am shocked when Tink stops in front of me with two, no, three bottles of water.

“Try this, Malcolm, it might help. I would give her something for pain because, no matter what, that is going to hurt bad. It’s going to reopen some of those marks and pull off some of the loose skin. Wildcat, talk to her, get her out of her head. Maybe talking with you will distract her some. Yeah, I know, but best we can do. Enforcer, put a call out to Tank and tell him we are going to need the copter to get her out of here. There’s a clear field about three minutes to the north of us. Right now, as you can hear, Shadow is playing. Duchess and Glory are checking out the other women. We’ve found a couple of shallow graves, so may be able to match DNA and give some families closure. Okay, I’ll be back. Get her ready for transport, no matter what you must do. I have a feeling that all of the degenerates aren’t here so we don’t want to get caught here with all these innocents around. Especially in the shape they all are in.”

I watch that tiny woman walk away, thinking that looks can be deceiving. I’d hate to have to go against her ever. Something waves in front of my face so I focus and see Yoggie has a syringe loaded already.

“Cici. Cici, hey, look at me. I want to make you as comfortable as possible. Do you have any allergies?”

She opens her mouth but nothing comes out. Frankie pours a tiny amount of water on her lips as Cici shakes her head. When she can, she again shocks the hell out of me.

“I can’t take pain medication. I hurt my knee in high school and got hooked on opioids. Took me almost nine months to come clean. Don’t want to go down that road again.”

As Cici is talking, the red-haired club sister of Frankie’s walks up close. She must have heard what Cici said because she takes a knee next to my girl.

“Cici, right? I was also hooked on opioids, so I get why you’re worried. Listen though, what they are about to do is going to be excruciatingly painful. Malcolm isn’t going to give you a lot of pain medication, just enough to not only calm you down but take the edge off. If you want, I’ll be right here with Wildcat. You can squeeze my hand as hard as you want, even break a finger or two if that will get you through this.”

I see Cici look to the hand held out to her and I realize Heartbreaker’s fingers look to have already been broken. Cici asks the question.

“Yeah, my fingers have been broken already because I chose drugs instead of a person in trouble. You aren’t doing that, Cici. This is called surviving. So can the guys do their thing and get you ready for transport? Honey, you need medical attention and not only for your back. You’re losing blood fast and you know what I’m trying to say in mixed company. Please let them get you from this contraption so we can move you to where the helicopter will land.”

“Will you be able to come with me in the helicopter? Heartbreaker, that’s what you said your name is, right? I don’t want to be alone, especially with a bunch of men.”

My stomach flips because this isn’t just physical but also emotional and psychological abuse. Those fuckers altered this poor girl’s life forever. How the hell do these women and men do this all the time? It feels like my heart and soul are being pulled from my body. I feel a small hand on my lower back and turn to see Frankie’s eyes on mine. She mouths, “You okay?” Yeah, that’s just like her, always worrying about everyone. I nod just as Cici tells Heartbreaker she’s ready to get out of here. Thank Christ.

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