Highway to Heaven (15 page)

“Where’s Reyes?” he asked. The girl looked
around before answering.

“He doesn’t come here often. Just the
guards…” her voice trailed off, gripped by fear.

“We’re going to get you all safe and back
home, baby. I have to wait until they transport you all to auction
so we can stop the whole operation and save all of the other girls
who were unlucky enough to fall into these sick fuckers’ hands.
Now, can you tell me how many guards are on duty at a time?”

She nodded, a tiny spark of hope flickering
in her dead eyes. “Six back here. There are more that stay in the
tunnel, and then the two up in the house.”

“Good girl. Now stay silent, okay?” he
whispered, putting his hand up against the cage. She nodded,
grabbing his hand through the tiny squares as if grasping on for
dear life. Which, as fucked up as it was, she kinda was. They were
these girls’ only chance at escape. He fought the urge to reach up
and unhook the lock that kept her a prisoner. They’d pounded it
into the girls not to fall weak and try to rescue them, yet here he
stood fighting it with all his might. Fuck, she was so young. Her
little features were bruised and battered. She had dried blood all
over her. If that emptiness deep in her eyes was what he thought,
they’d hurt her in ways she’d never heal from. His anger took
control once again. “I promise, sweetheart. We are going to make
these motherfuckers pay. Just trust me, can you do that?” He knew
asking a sexually abused and horribly battered little girl to trust
him, given it was men who had done this to her, was a huge request,
but he needed her to have hope. Her little fingers squeezed on his
and she sat up straight.

“Okay,” she whispered. Some of the other
girls turned to look and she moved to the side of her crate to
explain. Some looked hopeful, others still doubted it possible.
When she came back once more, the girl stopped him from moving on.
“Mister,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” he said, moving back against the
metal cage.

“The guards just did a shift change. They’ll
be taking one of the girls back any minute.”

He tilted his head, trying to figure out what
she meant. “Taking the girls back?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes hit the ground. “They take
one of us back and…” shame and humiliation wrapped around her while
she slumped farther to the floor, her eyes not meeting his.

“Fuck,” he ground out through clenched teeth.
“Not today, they don’t.” He turned to the others and gave the
signal to move on. Foot by foot they slowly made their way down the
side of the wall, stopping only to ensure the girls remained quiet
as to their presence. Fork wanted to take each of these girls and
hold them in his arms and erase everything these bastards had done
to them. He wasn’t a father, but they kicked in a fatherly
protectiveness that had him seeing red. One by one they crawled
past, and he could see the affect it had on his men. The girls were
a whole different story. The pain they felt for each girl reflected
in their eyes, and at one point he halted everyone to recollect
themselves because he’d looked over to see Shady literally shaking
with rage. Fork knew she’d been through a lot even he didn’t know
about, and seeing these girls wrapped in hopelessness probably hit
home with her. They were three cages from the front of the room
now. He was planning their best strategy when a gasp came from
Heaven. His head whipped around just in time to see her bolt from
her position to the front cage. The moment she did, the guards were
alerted. He didn’t have time to think. He stood with the others
following suit and they began to shoot. One by one, they dropped
the guards, only coming close to being hit once. He looked down to
make sure none of the stray bullets hit any of the girls and moved
back to Heaven.

“What the fuck are you doing!” he screamed.
He caught her hand as she tried to unlock the door to that front
cage. It held Sadie, which was Sahara’s sister, and a little,
battered, and bloody blonde.

“Tami!” she screamed. All eyes turned to the
limp body laying in Sadie’s lap.

“They took her AGAIN! She’s so bad… She’s
been unconscious for hours. I’m scared—” the girl broke off in
tears. Tonto shoved Heaven out of the way and shot the lock,
careful, which way he pointed to make sure the bullet didn’t
ricochet and hurt someone.

“Get these two out now!” Fork yelled,
reaching down to scoop up Tami’s body. He handed her off to Sandman
and helped Sadie to her feet. “Come on, sugar.” He picked her up
and gave her to Raven. “Move!” While the guys hustled to get them
to safety, he turned to the other still caged girls. “We’ll be
back. I promise you so God strike me dead, we will save every one
of you! Who can tell me any more information about this auction?”
he yelled, knowing they were running out of time.

Shea spoke up. “It’s in two days. I overheard
them talking about bringing in a truck to take us.”

“When are the trucks coming?” he barked. She
jerked back some at his harsh tone and he instantly calmed his
voice. “When are they taking you, sweetheart?” he tried again. She
kept her distance, but her posture relaxed some.

“Tomorrow,” she whispered as if afraid to say
it too loudly.

“What’s your name?” he asked, crouching down
on his haunches.

She hesitated, but finally answered,
“Shea.”

“Okay, Shea. I promise we will come get you
all, you just need to hang in just a little bit longer for me. Can
you do that?” She eyed him for a split moment and nodded. “Good
girl. They’re gonna be busy with our little mess here to touch any
of you before then. Just make sure that all the girls know help is
coming.” She nodded again. He stood and motioned for everyone to
head out. Shady and Heaven were the last to leave.

“We will get you, Shea,” Shady choked out
before she ran to the door. Heaven stood in place, her eyes locked
with Shea’s, mirroring the terror the girl held deep within
her.

“I promise,” she said as she fled to catch
up. Shea felt the first spark of hope ignite since being captured.
Sadie was right. They had come, and she knew if they could, they’d
hold true to their word. The chances were slim, but at least there
was a chance. It was more than she’d had before. She looked down at
the bodies lying in a pool of blood and felt a dawning of rebirth.
The three men who were laying there had been the ones that had hurt
her the worst and taken something from her. They’d taken her pride,
her innocence, but they’d mutilated her private parts in a way that
would never allow her to be loved. Seeing them dead didn’t make her
feel better, but it was a small bit of gratification and closure.
Before the guards could rush in, she spoke to the girls that
adjoined her.

“We’re all going to be saved,” she gasped.
And a small part of her believed it.

Heaven rode back to the motel in the truck
with Tami and Sadie, while one of the guys drove her bike back.
Tami had woken up twice but hadn’t been coherent. Heaven’s stomach
was in knots. She looked down at the battered little body and her
heart clenched. She was so young, so fragile, and now so broken.
Even after the cuts and bruises healed, there would always be
wounds that wouldn’t heal—wounds that cut so deep she’d carry for
the rest of her life. Her baby sister had been branded into a
lifetime of pain and hadn’t ever been given a chance. If her
parents would’ve been better…hell, if she would have been around
more, maybe none of this would have happened. But it had. And now
her sister was teetering on the ledge of death in her lap. It was
all her fault. She should have taken her with her after the first
time. This was on her head, and something she didn’t know if she
could live with.

“She’s gonna be okay, Heaven,” a voice said
from the front seat. It took her by surprise, drawing her out of
her inner despair for the first time since she’d found Tami lying
in that cold, dirty floor. She looked up to see Gage watching her
intently. He turned in his seat and reached out to her, his hand
falling on her knee aside Tami’s head. “She’s going to make it.”
Heaven wanted to lash out and tell him no, she wasn’t ever going to
be okay, and no, she may live, but she’d never make it in life. Not
after this. But she didn’t, and she didn’t have to. His expression
said it all. “Tami is a fighter, just like her sister. Whatever it
takes, we’ll see to it that she gets everything she needs,” he
said, his thumb brushing lightly against her jeans. From the way he
looked at her and the feeling she got, he didn’t mean ‘we’ as in
the club. He meant ‘we’ as in, him and her. It stole her attention
away from Tami momentarily while she tried to process it.

His hand slid off her leg and she turned her
eyes back to Tami. She hadn’t expected him to grab her hand and
hold it, so when he did, her head flipped back around. “What are
you doing?” she asked, despite the obvious. But that wasn’t what
she was asking and he knew it.

“Something I shoulda done a long time ago,”
he said quietly.

“What are you saying, Gage?” She knew exactly
what he meant, but wanted him to say it.

He looked down at Tami and back at Heaven,
shaking his head. It wasn’t the right time. When everything had
settled and they were back at home, he’d tell her how he felt.
Which, with Heaven, she wouldn’t make easy. He wasn’t the ‘pour out
his feelings’ kind of guy, but even if it took the rest of their
lives, he was willing to show her. When he remained silent,
Heaven’s temper flared. Call her overemotional from the shit they’d
just seen and been through, but dealing with an ego the size of his
was her snapping point.

“That’s what I thought,” she snapped,
slinging his hand out of hers. He opened his mouth to say something
but Tami stirred. Her groans and screams echoed through the cab,
catching Ironman off guard.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, turning to see
her. “Try to keep her out until we get back to the motel. Sahara is
calling for a doctor to meet us there,” his eyes went back to the
road, but he glanced in the rearview mirror from time to time,
checking on them. Tami began to settle at Heaven’s soft murmurs and
soon was back unconscious.

“Hold on, baby,” she pleaded, pulling the
blood matted hair off her cheek. “I’m so sorry I failed you, angel.
So, so sorry,” she sobbed. “How could they do this?” she whispered
on a crying hiccup. The tears flowed down her cheeks, her chest
heaving from the disgust at what she’d allowed to take place. Her
baby sister was the most important person in her life. The gnawing
bit of guilt in her subconscious taunted her thoughts.

*****

It was just before daybreak when they made it
back to the motel. Ironman had carried Tami into one of the double
beds and into the hands of the waiting doctor. He didn’t speak much
English, but had managed to shoo everyone out of the room but
Heaven. He motioned again for her to go, likely to protect her from
what she’d see during the examination, but she wouldn’t budge.
There was no way in hell she was leaving her in the care of someone
she didn’t know—especially a man. Tami had been through enough. He
shrugged and pointed for her to stand toward Tami’s head and she
nodded. He dug down in a leather bag and drew out a needle, filling
it with a clear liquid. “
Dolor
,” he said, pointing to Tami.
She nodded. It was for the pain. Which meant he was probably
pumping her full of Morphine. She was skeptical about Mexican
medicine given the area of Mexico they were in, but didn’t have
much choice. She just hoped the needle was clean and the meds
weren’t tainted.

He gave her the injection and began his exam,
looking to her before removing any clothing. She felt more secure
because he’d done so and knew he must have guessed that it had been
men who had done this to Tami. Each time she’d nodded, he’d proceed
on, compassionately covering up one area before he moved on to the
next. When it came time for him to check her female area, he
stopped and put a hand on Heaven’s arm. She looked down at his hand
as the tears streaked down her cheeks. The thin skin on his hands
creased in wrinkles and showed years of hard work and abuse. He
hadn’t lived an easy life either and that seemed to need no
translation. Heaven put her hand over his and looked up in to his
eyes, seeing the same tears that she shed rounding the corners of
his. He understood. Somewhere in his life, he’d felt the agony she
felt for someone he cared about. Just having that connection gave
her the strength to push on. She nodded, squeezing his hand gently
before letting go.

The elderly doctor placed a sheet over Tami’s
lower half to give her some grasp of modesty as he did the exam. He
kept his face expressionless and his movements professional, taking
care to treat and sew each injury with care. Over an hour later he
finished and lowered the sheet.

He looked to her, his face drawn and somber.
“
Sin ninos
,” he said, shaking his head. The pain that she
saw in his eyes said it all. Tami could never have babies. She let
out a wail. “No,” she cried.

“
Lo siento
,” he said quietly, shaking
his head. He gathered up his things and left, leaving her huddled
in the chair beside the bed. The truth of it all seemed to be
closing in on her and making it hard to breathe. Tami. Why hadn’t
they taken her instead? Tami was a good student who would have gone
off to a good college and gotten away from their life the right
way, without running. She wouldn’t have joined a biker gang, or
spent her weekends drinking her past away like Heaven did. Like all
of the things in their life, it wasn’t fair. She sat that way until
her brain had shut off on self-preservation and she fell into a
deep sleep.

*****

Sadie jolted up in the middle of a nightmare.
She sat up and looked around, relieved to see Sahara lying next to
her.