Page 13 of Hidden By the Convicts
“Where’s who?” Bowen asked, definitely annoyed.
“Did he say she? As in a woman?” Gavin’s voice sounded rough, as if he’d been sleeping.
Teagen’s heart felt lighter at that moment, knowing both men were covering for her. She tensed as the footsteps above, several sets, moved closer to the pit. Dirt rained down on her from the floorboards. She huddled inside the blanket to keep from breathing in the fine particulates. If she coughed or sneezed, the guards would find her.
“You heard me,” Mozely said as things started crashing above. “The only woman on East Side.”
“And you think we have her?” Gavin said mockingly. “What’s the matter, Mozely, you can’t keep her satisfied?”
“Oomph.”
Teagen covered her ears, but she could still hear the dull thuds of fists meeting flesh.
“Beat him up too badly and you’ll have to explain to Dresden why there are no crops,” Bowen said, sounding casual, as if this were routine. With Mozely up there, perhaps it was.
“Fuck you, Bowen,” Mozely said.
“You do know Gavin’s the only one who knows how to keep those crops alive on this cursed planet, right?”
“You. Harlis. Out of bed,” a second guard shouted. Thompson or maybe Elkin. They sounded alike.
“Why should I?” Harlis protested.
“Because I said so.”
A loud thump shook the floor. The scraping of a bed against the floorboards went through Teagen like fingernails against slate. She cringed and bit down on the blanket, hard, trying not to cry out.
“Fucking guards,” Harlis said.
“Shut it, Harlis.” Bowen again. “Finish up already, Mozely. I need sleep.”
More scraping of beds and the sound of glass breaking. A window?
“Tell your boy here to shut his mouth next time,” Mozely said.
Boots marched across the floor and then the door slammed, but she continued to shake. Above her, furniture was being slid back into place over the pit. No one removed the floorboards. Bowen was leaving her in the hole. She hugged the blanket tighter.
“Do you think—”
“No talking, Harlis,” Bowen cut him off. “Just clean up and sleep while you can. That asshole’s not done with us. How bad, Gavin?”
“Nothing that won’t heal. I had no choice, Bowen.”
“I know. No more talking.”
Teagen swallowed hard and leaned back against the dirt wall. She removed the blanket from her face and breathed in cool air. The silence began to wear on her. The guards had left, but for how long?
Teagen must have fallen asleep, for the next thing she knew, she was being hauled out of the pit. It was still dark out, but not pitch black. Pre-dawn.
“You okay, darling?” Gavin asked.
When her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled. Gavin caught her with one strong arm around her waist. “She’s ice cold, Bowen.”
“Fucking Mozely,” Bowen cursed as he threw another blanket around her shoulders
She stood there, shocked. He wasn’t mad at her, butforher.
Gavin pulled her against his chest, rubbing his hands against her arms and back. She snuggled in close to him, taking in his warmth and soaking in the feeling of being cared for.
