Page 25 of Avenging Laura

Laura looked up at Ash who nodded and walked out of the room. She leaned back onto the couch and closed her eyes. She needed to figure out a way to get away to keep her family safe. They weren’t safe as long as she was here.

“No!”

Laura’s eyes popped open quickly when she heard Diesel, York, Raso, Sgt. Brocard, and her captain’s voice all at the same time. Well fuck a duck, who the hell called them? She looked around the room at the only ones who could have notified them and landed on Cookie who smirked at her with his shit eating grin. Asshole.

“No what?” Laura grit her teeth.

“You’re not running. You wouldn’t let me run. I’ll be damned if your ass is going to run.”

“How did you know that’s what she was thinking?” Fiona looked between Laura and Diesel.

“Because that’s what she does when things like this touch her. She’s thinking if she disappears then that will protect us. Not just the team, but Highlander, his parents, his siblings, the kids, and even you guys. She’s thinking she needs to martyr herself. I want to see the damn pictures!” Captain Irby called her out as she walked over to Ash to get the photos.

“Don’t you people have shit to do besides annoy the fuck out of me?” Laura yelled, tears streaming down her face.

“Yeah, starting with you. Now, spill before I call your brother and have these boys get word to Joe about what’s going on,” Captain Irby ordered, looking up from the photos to Laura, fire in her eyes.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

After spilling everything to her captain and those that were in the room, phone calls were made. Wolf got Tex on the phone and had the photos scanned and sent to him and Beth so that they could determine how recent the photos of the guys on missions were done. Wolf and the others tended to agree with her when she made the statement that she didn’t think those were recent.

She did relent on Ash calling Tommy, Willie, and Jack to let the parents know there was a possible stalker nearby and to keep an eye out. The real kicker came when they alerted her brother about what was going on.

Yeah, that was a shit show all on its own. Especially when he showed up with her grandmother in tow.

“Laura Renee MacLeod. When were you going to tell someone about those photos, miss thing?” her grandmother demanded as she sat down on the couch glaring at her.

Looking up at her brother, she gave him the death glare and only received a smirk back in return. She was so paying his ass back. She’d wait until he had a hot date and do it then.

“No, Grandma, she wasn’t. She was going to slink her happy ass out of town and become a one-man army,” Dominick ratted her out, his arms crossed against his chest as he stared her down.

“You do remember you have a date coming up with that skanky nurse whose phone number you stole from that other cop who was hot for her, right?” Laura glared at Dominick.

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Dominick stared at his sister in confusion.

“I tell a certain person about the prank you pulled on her date last week. Then we can see how long your upcoming date lasts when she comes to join you on yours.” Laura smirked back at her brother, copying his pose.

“Bitch!” Dominick grumbled as he glared at her.

“Asshat!” Laura smirked back as she glared at her brother.

“Children, do not make me take my cane to both your asses!” Jeannette warned Laura and Dominick.

“Dom’s into that, Grams so I’d be careful if I were you.” Laura continued to glare at her brother.

“Like it isn’t yours?” Dominick fired back rolling his eyes at her.

Laura froze at his statement. She didn’t know how to respond to that one at first. She and Highlander hadn’t been intimate since her rescue. She couldn’t.

It wasn’t Highlander’s fault. She craved his nearness, his touches, his kisses. She just couldn’t. She felt dirty. Not worthy of his touches. His love.

She got up and stormed out of the room and locked herself in her bedroom. Once she had locked herself in there, she immediately started stripping and jumped into the shower and started scrubbing her body.

She had a rough loofah and soaped it up and started scrubbing her body until everything was bright red. If she could scrub the insides of her body, she would. She just couldn’t get the dirt off of her. Is this what the girls felt like when they rescued them?

She’d been held captive before. She’d been tortured before. Beaten, belittled, threatened, sneered at, skin touched as if they were going to do something to her. This was the first time she’d actually been raped. She was unworthy of him, their children, their life.

She broke down. She crouched down in the shower, her head against the shower tiles and sobbed. Sobbed for the losses she had in the past, the loss of her unborn child that they didn’t know she knew about, her marriage, everything. She wasn’t worthy of anything anymore.

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