Page 34 of Protective Assignment
She sank down on the couch and dropped her bag at her feet.Maybe it was better this way.She was so tired of running, of being afraid of everything.She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them like a shield.Her heart skipped a beat when Cade sat down beside her and wrapped one of her hands in his.The warmth of his touch was all she needed to get the words out.Hesitantly, she told him the story of what had brought her out here.
When she and her sister, Haven, were kids, their father had wanted to make a better life for them, the way so many fathers did, and so he’d started working for a shady character called Hector Neimons in the small town they lived in.Before long, Hector had brought him and his familyinto the Shepards of Rebellion, a biker gang that basically functioned as a cult worshipping at the altar of the Neimons family, especially Hector’s son, Ryker.Even when things started getting darker and more dangerous, their hold on River’s father was too intense.
River had grown up in a world of paranoia and violence, where every wrong move had been punished harshly.There wasn’t a single choice she could make that wasn’t scrutinized by the other members of the growing Shepards group.They were cut off from the rest of the world, only allowed to rely on the Neimonses for food and supplies.It was why she had learned to sew, so she could at least mend the tattered old clothes that they had given her to live in for years on end.
And she had been used to it.It had been normal for her, because she had never known anything else.Even when the crime and violence started getting out of control, she reminded herself of how much the group had done for her and her family, how they had supported them when they had been struggling.
Of course, she had to put to the back of her mind the fact that the gang had been the one to cause most of that struggle in the first place.Like when her father had been kept away from work for months because they were suspicious of his intentions.But it was easy to forget that part when everything she’d had—clothes, food, shelter—all came from them.
Eventually, it had become too much for her father, and he had decided he wanted to get his family out of there.It was when River was a teenager, and the thought of something new was tantalizing to her.She had to find out whatthere was in the rest of the world, what existed beyond the bounds of the life the Neimons family had created for her.
And so, her father started to put together a plan.It wasn’t much at first, but it was something.They put away supplies, enough to cover them while they were on the road for a few weeks to find somewhere new.He seemed sure the gang would come looking for them, but he assured his family it wouldn’t go much deeper than that.He swore they didn’t care enough about the family for them to really try too hard to get them back.As long as River and her family kept their mouths shut about the gang and their criminal activity, they would be able to escape unharmed.
And maybe River had believed that at some point.Maybe she had trusted her father and actually allowed herself to believe that they would be able to get out, make a clean break and never look back.How naive she had been.But now, all this time later, she could see it had been nothing more than a pipe dream, a fantasy they had all been clinging to because the alternative was more than they could bear.
The alternative being that they were trapped, and there was no way out, no matter what they did.
That was how it went.On the night they were due to leave, they had everything packed up and ready to go.Haven and their mother were in the car, and River and her father were packing up the last of their stuff before they hit the road.
Before returning to the house to grab the last of their belongings, her father had given specific instructions to her mother for her to keep watch and if anyone approached, or there were any signs of trouble, then she and Haven should leave immediately.He’d get River and himself outand they’d rendezvous at a location her parents had already agreed upon.
But before they could get anywhere, a shot rang out.
“River, get down!”her father yelled to her, and she ducked back inside their small house for cover.Outside, she heard the roar of the engine and watched as her mother drove off with her sister.As soon as the dust had cleared, she saw her father’s body sprawled on the driveway.
She ran to him at once, but it was too late.They had killed him.She cried out, suddenly all alone in the world.Her mother and sister had followed the plan and fled, and she was still trapped here, without even her father to rely on.
“Don’t worry, River,” Ryker had told her.“We’ll take good care of you.”
It sounded more like a threat than a promise.
And so, she’d stayed.She had nowhere else to go, nobody else to turn to.She just had to trust in herself, and pray that one day, she found a way out.
The Neimons family took good care of her.She was moved into their home so they could keep a better eye on her there, and she hated every moment of it.Someone was always watching her.Things only grew more and more dangerous as time passed.What had started out as little more than a ragtag group behind their leader soon began to build into something with real focus, something really violent and obsessive.
Even more so when Hector died and left Ryker in charge.Ryker was so much worse than his father.More of a control freak than Hector had ever been, and when it came to recruiting new members, he didn’t wait for them to come to him.If he saw someone he liked the look of, he wouldsnatch them up and brainwash them until they didn’t have any choice but to go along with the sick, twisted nightmare he dragged them into.
River had no idea what had happened to her mother and sister, but prayed they had made it out.Ryker held their escape against her, and eventually made good on his threat to force her to repent for it.
“You’re going to be my wife,” he told her.She could still remember that moment, the horror of it.Up until then, she had been almost committed to the Shepards, willing to do whatever it took to make sure they didn’t go looking for her mother or sister.But that moment, after he uttered those words to River, it was too much.More than she knew she could ever handle.
She had to get out.She couldn’t be his wife.Not in a million years.Even the thought of it was enough to make her feel sick.She swore to herself she would find a way out before she got married to that monster, and she started to plan her escape.
She paid attention to the rotation of people watching her, pocketed and stole stuff to hide for her travels when backs were turned, noted the distances from the different places she was working or sleeping to the nearest exits—hoping to escape into the woods and disappear.
One day, she found her opening.A couple of Ryker’s men had started arguing and then a fight broke out and it captured everyone’s attention, so she was momentarily forgotten.
She’d made her break for the woods and had been on the run since.
“That was the abusive ex you told me about?”Cade asked, as she filled him in on the story.
She nodded.“He was…rough with me,” she replied, lowering her gaze to the ground.“But he was that way with everyone.He was worse than his father.More dangerous.More obsessive.And he’s the one looking for me out there right now, I’m sure of it.He’s the one hunting me.”
“And you were going to your family?”
“Yes,” she explained.“I know my mother has a lot of family in a small town in New York called Chittenango.That’s where I’m headed.I need to find her and my sister again.I need to know they’re okay…but you ruined it.”
His eyes widened and he jerked back, dropping her hand.“What are you talking about?”
