Page 8 of Property of Rio

Rio

Three fucking days of waiting for Issy to regain consciousness has had me nearly losing my mind. While Pokey does his computer thing to try and track the trailer using the chip we have hidden on it, I’ve had my ass planted next to Issy on my bed. As she sips water, I can tell she’s collecting her thoughts, so I push back my impatience because I know some of it has to do with the fact I’ve been so worried about her. The rest is due to the fact that someone she trusted, hellItrusted, betrayed her in such a vicious manner.

“So, it was after our events and Gage said he’d go ahead and put Stargazer in her trailer then come help me with Starlight. Since I have the trailer you gave me to use, I was able to easily get the ramps sorted out, then get her inside without any problems. I had put her feed bag on and filled up her travel trough with water when he came inside and offered me a bottle of water since I had mentioned I was thirsty because it was hotter than Hades in the arena. I honestly didn’t think anything of it, Rafe, becauseit’s something he’s done a million times before, y’know?” she states.

At my nod, she continues. “I didn’t notice that the top had been cracked already, but even if I had, I still wouldn’t have questioned it since we all tend to open each others’ drinks. So, I was doing a light mucking out of the trailer to put down fresh hay because I knew I’d be driving straight through to home, and I wanted her to be comfortable. I started getting dizzy and after I staggered, it was then I noticed he was watching me intently with a weird look on his face. When I stumbled and almost fell, I knew that my water had been tampered with and was laced with something. Rafe, I fought hard, I promise I did, but he managed to overpower me, I guess. I woke up in the back of the trailer, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

“Honey, with what Doc dug out from beneath your nails, plus the damage to your elbows, hands, and knees, I know you did,” I reply.

She wrinkles her nose at my words and despite the rage simmering below the surface, a chuckle slips through my lips.

“You remembered that the elbow is one of the hardest things to hit with, didn’t you?”

She shrugs. “I guess so. It was instinctual. I have some flashes of his face looking kind of rough, so I suspect you’re right, but can we not talk about anything being underneath my nails? That’s just gross!”

Laughter bursts out of me because she looks so disgusted right now, as though she ruined a prized manicure when in fact, her nails are short and blunt and usually unpolished. “Babe, really? The woman who has no problems helping the vet deliver foals,getting all that junk on you up to your elbows? You’re bitching about a little bit of skin underneath your nails?”

She starts giggling while holding her ribs. “Stop, Rafe! It hurts when I laugh.”

My humor is immediately squashed. Doc found footprint bruises all up and down her sides and back. While none of her ribs are broken, several are cracked which is just as bad when it comes to how a person feels while they’re healing.

“What happened after you woke up?” I query.

“I realized we were moving but I couldn’t figure out where we were right away. It wasn’t until we got off the interstate and they pulled into a dumpster dive of a motel that I recognized the town we were in. It’s about fifteen miles or so from here. Anyhow, I waited until I was sure they weren’t coming back out, then I used the knife in the slats to cut myself loose, fetched my stuff from the hidden compartment, then led Starlight out of the trailer. I made sure I closed everything back up again so it’d appear as if nothing had been tampered with and so that they wouldn’t know I was gone, though.”

“You did good, Issy, really good. I mean, I may never tease you again about your penchant for watching those true crime shows you love, because you had enough DNA under your nails as well as on your clothes that even a blind person could’ve spotted it. But how in the hell did you get up on Starlight? Doc says you’ve got seven cracked ribs, and she didn’t have a saddle on her.”

“They had one of those transformer boxes in the parking lot, so I climbed on it then used it to propel myself onto Star’s back,” she says, wincing in remembrance.

I wince too, having had both crackedandbroken ribs during my time on the circuit. Still, it’s a testament to my woman’s strength that she was able to do any of it at all with the condition she was in when we found her.

Her hand lightly touches my arm and she mellowly says, “Breathe, Rafe. I’m home, I’m safe, and you’ll keep me that way.”

“Damn straight,” I growl out as emotion claws through me. “So, you realized where you were at and headed home?”

She nods then continues. “I started getting hot and cold, and could feel my wrists and ankles bleeding, so I knew I needed to get help as soon as I could. Unfortunately, I started feeling sick, so I slid off Starlight’s back in order not to throw up on her, but I couldn’t get back on. I tried, though, several times. When it dawned on me we were on your land, I sent her to find you then hid. I don’t remember much else. Wait, I do remember someone else coming into the trailer while Gage and I were fighting. He hit me with a gun and told Gage to tie me up. He reminded me of that guy we saw years ago that you tried to shield me from when we were kids, just older.”

I freeze at her words.

While we suspected the Devils were involved based on the carefully crafted tale Gage told, Issy is somewhat confirming that they did have something to do with why she was abducted. The question is, why? Why would they go after Issy? What did they have to gain by taking her?

Seeing her yawn, I lean in and kiss her temple with a light graze of my lips. “Gonna go get you something to eat, babe. Don’t get too excited though, because Doc wants you on soft foods until the cut in your lip heals a bit more.”

“Huh. No steak then, huh? Do you think he’ll let me go down to the barn to see Starlight? She deserves some apples for helping to save me.”

“Issy, you saved yourself, but yeah, she was there and wouldn’t go with Pancho and Luis when she got here. In fact, she reared up and then started to run back toward you,” I tell her, watching her eyes widen. “She knew you needed help, babe.”

“She’s a good girl,” she murmurs, a small smile gracing her lips.

“How’s our patient?” Doc asks as I come into the kitchen.

“Awake and coherent, thank fuck,” I reply, moving to the pot of soup on the stove. I pull a bowl out of the cabinet and fill it up, then cut a few slices of freshly made bread, butter them, and put them on a tray. “Anything else she can eat?” I question.

He snickers then says, “Maybe some applesauce? Keep in mind she hasn’t had anything of substance in her stomach for a few days. I’m still waiting on the test results to see if we can figure out what drug she was given. I know there was evidence that she vomited, but there’s no guarantee that she got it all out of her system. It’s why I’ve been cautious about what I’ve given her with regard to pain medication.”

“Appreciate that, Doc,” I reply.

“I’ll give her a chance to eat and then come up to check on her wounds. I think we’re turning a corner though since it’s obvious her fever has broken. Hopefully, she was able to give you some information for us to go on.”

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