Текст книги "Redemption Road"

Автор книги: Katie Ashley

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

FIVE

ANNABEL

As I floated back into consciousness, a sigh escaped my lips. The excruciating pain that had cloaked me was gone. While I appreciated the blessed relief, a sudden panic seeped into my pores. Did the newfound peace mean I was dead?

Prickly fear crept from the top of my head down to my feet, and I shivered. My groggy mind whirled with questions. Where was I? What had happened to me? When I tried desperately to widen my eyes to see where I was, they would only open halfway. They felt too swollen to fully open.

Just as I struggled to remember what had caused my eyes to swell, the events of the last few hours came racing back to me. Mendoza’s face masked in rage, his fists flying in fury, and his harsh words, “I’ll kill you for letting another man’s name come off your lips.”

When a bright, blinding light snapped on above me, a hoarse scream broke across my busted lips. Any peace I had felt was fleeting as I realized I wasn’t in heaven. Instead, I was surely back in hell. But as I started thrashing around, I realized I wasn’t in Mendoza’s quarters. I was laid out on a hard table. Once an antiseptic smell entered my nose, I couldn’t help wondering if I was in a hospital.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. No one is going to hurt you.”

I froze at the kind words, which were spoken with such care. Fluttering my eyelids, I managed to open my eyes enough to see someone I didn’t recognize in front of me. He didn’t wear a Diablo’s cut. Instead, he was outfitted in medical scrubs. As if he could sense my fear and the questions I had racing through my mind, he said in a low, kind voice, “My name is Dr. Edgeway. One of my men found you back at the compound. You were hurt badly, and you needed surgery to save your life.”

Vaguely I remembered men arriving at the compound. Even though I had been in such agony, I remembered the chaos around me—the screaming¸ the explosions, the loud, threatening voices. But Mendoza had beaten me so badly I couldn’t do anything but lie on the floor and await my fate. Just as I felt myself fading, I had seen Jesus. He had gotten me out of Mendoza’s quarters. My savior had told me his name. I racked my brain to try to remember it. Finally it came to me.

“Rev?” I questioned.

The doctor’s brows shot up in surprise. “He’s just outside. If you want him, I’ll have him come in.”

For reasons I couldn’t understand, I wanted the stranger with me. “Please.”

He nodded. As he turned to the door, the room began to grow darker. I fought hard to stay awake to see my savior. When I saw him framed in the doorway, I couldn’t fight any longer, and I once again fell under the harsh tide.

When I resurfaced, I found myself in a darkened room. Relief flooded me as I imagined I must’ve made it out of surgery. When I shifted in bed, pain tore through my abdomen, causing me to gasp. A warm hand met mine, and I immediately jerked away, recoiling from the touch. I could hear the panic in the muffled cry of apprehension that escaped my lips. Who was touching me? Where was Dr. Edgeway? I didn’t like the nearly constant uncertainty I now felt.

“Shh, Annabel, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

That voice. It didn’t belong to the doctor from before, but somehow it was still familiar to me. Slowly I turned my head on the pillow, searching through the darkness for him. A light flicked on over my head, and I was finally able to see him. His kind blue eyes met mine, and they instantly eased some of the fear. The striking color seemed such a contrast to his mahogany hair. He sat in an uncomfortable-looking chair pulled up against the bed. In the silence, I drank in his comforting appearance—his long, jeans-encased legs, the T-shirt that appeared to be covered in blood or dirt, his shoulder-length hair that was swept back from the face that gave me a reassuring smile, his broad chest.

When I realized we were alone in the room, sharp jabs of fear prickled over my skin. My rational mind told me to be frightened of him. He was a stranger—a strange man at that. He towered over me with muscles that could inflict great harm. But everything I needed to know about him was in his eyes. Searching them showed me that he was a gentle giant, and he seemed like someone that I could trust.

At what must’ve seemed like my continued apprehension, Rev held his hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you, I swear. As long as I have a breath in me, no one is ever going to hurt you again. You’re safe.”

I stared at him, weighing his words. “Y-You saved me,” I whispered.

“I guess you could say that,” he replied. I was shocked when he shyly ducked his head. The reaction seemed so foreign from the tough-guy persona he exuded.

“You got me away from Mendoza and that horrible place.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“So you saved me, and I’d like to thank you.”

He glanced up to give me a sad smile. “You’re welcome.”

When I tried pushing myself up in bed, pain once again charged through my midsection like a locomotive, causing me to wince. “Do you need more pain medicine?” Rev asked.

“No!” I answered a little more loudly and emphatically than I should have. I felt embarrassed at Rev’s raised brows. “I’ll be fine,” I added more calmly. The truth was I didn’t like feeling woozy and incapacitated. The last time I had been drugged was when I had been kidnapped.

Once I had ridden out the pain, I asked, “How long have I been out?”

“A day.”

I gasped. “I was out that long?”

“After being beaten and going through surgery, you needed it.”

“How bad was I?”

Rev grimaced. “Breakneck wasn’t sure you would make it through the surgery.”

“Breakneck?”

Rev chuckled. “I mean, Dr. Edgeway.”

“He was very kind to me when I woke up before surgery.”

“He’s an amazing doctor. If anyone could have saved you, it was him.”

Staring into Rev’s face, I recalled more of what had happened before I went into surgery. “I asked him to get you, didn’t I?”

He nodded. “And I came to you.”

“Yes, you did,” I murmured as I vaguely remembered his standing in the doorway before I’d slipped into unconsciousness again.

“I stayed by your side the entire time you were in recovery. It’s probably good we are in Mexico because I’m pretty sure an American hospital wouldn’t have allowed me to stay.”

I couldn’t rationalize why I found myself so drawn to him or why I had felt the need to have him with me during surgery. After all, he was a stranger to me. Sure, he had proven himself to some degree by rescuing me from the depths of hell, but I still knew so little about who he was. Was Rev really a knight in shining armor or had I once again met a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

When I shook myself free of my distracting thoughts, I found Rev staring at me. I hadn’t cared about my appearance since I had been kidnapped. Although I had been forced to look good for Mendoza, I didn’t seek his approval. For some strange reason, though, I now found myself worrying about what Rev thought of me. I brought my hand, which was currently tethered to an IV pole, to my hair. “I must be a mess.”

“No. I was just thinking how much better you already look since the surgery. I was so scared for you when I found you in the compound.”

“I thought you were Jesus,” I murmured, alluding to what I had said at the compound.

“I’m still just Rev,” he teased.

For some reason, I found myself smiling at his response. It felt good to smile again and to have someone tease me. It made me think of the past, before everything that had happened to me with Mendoza. “So, what kind of name is Rev?” I asked.

“Road name.”

I jerked my hand from his in revulsion. No, it can’t be true. Surely someone as kind and caring as Rev couldn’t possibly be like Johnny and his friends.

When I continued staring at him, Rev said, “It’s not what you think.”

“You’re a biker, right? What else is there to think?”

“I’m a Hells Raider. We’re nothing like the Diablos.”

“You sure about that?” I countered before I could stop myself.

A defiant look flashed in his eyes. “I’ve never laid a hand on a woman that wasn’t consensual. And I’ve sure as hell never beaten one. Even if I’d wanted to, my club would have taken my cut if I did. One of our bylaws is that no man is ever to abuse his old lady or any other woman.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “It was a wedding gift our former president gave to his wife. She’d had a rough go in life. Lots of men had hurt her over the years.”

Even though I didn’t know her, I felt a strange affinity with this former president’s wife. We had both found ourselves members of a club no one would ever want to join. “He sounds like a good man.”

A pained expression came over Rev’s face. “He was.”

“Was?”

“He got killed a few months ago.”

“I’m so sorry,” I replied. My heart went out to Rev because I could feel the sorrow emanating from him.

“Thank you.”

Grimacing, I pushed myself up in the bed. “And I’m sorry for accusing you of being like the men who . . . hurt me.”

“Don’t be sorry. You can’t help the way you feel. And I know what you went through.”

Cocking my head at him, I asked, “So what’s ‘Rev’ short for?”

“Reverend.”

My brows shot up in surprise at the thought of Rev having a religious calling. “You’re a minister?”

“No, but my father was.” At what must have been my continued inquisitive expression, he drew in a breath. “When my brothers and I patched into my father’s club, we took road names that bound us as a family and honored his former life as a minister.”

“Former life?”

Renewed grief etched its way onto Rev’s face. He didn’t respond for a few moments. Staring down at his hands, he said, “When I was eleven, he left the pulpit and went back to the biker world. My two brothers and I followed in his footsteps, much to our mother’s disappointment.”

Feeling guilty for dredging up his pain, I said, “I’m sorry. I seem to have a special gift today for bringing up things that make you feel bad.”

He gave me a small smile. “Don’t apologize,” he replied. “Speaking of fathers, I’m sure you’ll want to get in touch with your family. Although we found out your identity, we thought it would be better for you to contact them.”

A pang of regret stabbed me at the thought that it had been Rev who brought up the subject of my parents and not me. The truth was I had forced myself to bury any thoughts I had of them in the deep recesses of my mind. In those early weeks as Mendoza’s captive, I’d thought about my parents a lot. I wondered what they were doing and how they had reacted to my abduction. I fantasized that they had pulled strings and dispatched some Special Forces unit that would arrive at any minute to save me. But as time went on, the weeks turning into a month and then two, and no one came for me, I had to force myself to stop thinking about them. I had to reason that I had left them little to go on when it came to tracking me down.

Focusing on something else Rev had said, I questioned, “You know who I am?”

He nodded. “Annabel Lee Percy, originally from Virginia but living in Texas.”

My brows rose in surprise. “You were able to find all of that just by me telling you my name?”

Rev smiled. “My fellow Raiders have talents. Of course, it wasn’t that hard going through the missing persons reports for girls named Annabel.”

“I see.”

Reaching into his back pocket, Rev took out a phone. “Would you like to call them now?”

“No. Not right now.”

Rev’s brows furrowed in confusion at the panicked note in my voice. But at that moment I didn’t have the energy to try to explain my complicated family. I’m sure it sounded strange that I didn’t demand the phone from him to have a tearful reunion. Trying to lessen the abruptness of my reaction, I said, “I’m just a little too tired right now. Maybe in the morning when I’ve had more rest.”

Although he nodded, I could see he was confused. Fortunately, just then my attention was drawn away from Rev by a gentle knock at the door. When I turned my head, I saw Dr. Edgeway standing in the doorway. He smiled. “I see you’re awake.”

I nodded, and he started into the room. “Mind if I check to see how you’re doing?”

“No, that’s fine.”

Rev stood up from his chair. “I’ll step out.”

While I knew that I needed privacy for the exam, my chest tightened at the thought of him leaving. He must’ve sensed my apprehension because he said, “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

“Thanks.”

Once we were alone, Dr. Edgeway came over to me. Instead of beginning the exam, he stood awkwardly beside the bed, his hand shuffling some loose change in his pocket.

“Is something wrong?”

He gave a slight jerk of his head. “Before I examine you, there’s something I need to ask you about.”

“Okay,” I replied apprehensively.

Dr. Edgeway then pulled something out of his pocket. When he held it up to me, I gasped. It was the emerald and diamond ring I had briefly worn. I hadn’t even realized it was gone. I wondered if they had taken it off me before surgery. “My ring.”

“Your ring?” he questioned in an accusatory tone.

Shrinking back in the bed, I said softly, “Yes, it’s mine. It was a gift from someone, and I’d like to have it back.”

“Who gave it to you?” he demanded.

“A—a girl.” I swallowed hard under his intense stare. “Yesterday or the day before. I don’t remember.”

His anger slightly dissipated. “Did she have red hair?”

My brows shot up in surprise. “How did you know that?”

A wounded look appeared on his face. “Because she was my daughter.”

My chest clenched in agony. “She was?” He gave a brief nod. I had first seen the redheaded girl from the window of Mendoza’s bedroom. She arrived with two other girls the day after three girls had been sold. Her appearance after a barrage of blondes and brunettes made me wonder if I might have new competition for Mendoza’s affections. I guess I hoped it more than anything. But when she wasn’t brought into the main house, I realized I was to have no relief.

Suddenly it all began to make sense. “So that’s why Rev and his men stormed the compound: to get your daughter back.”

“Yes. It is.”

A horrible feeling overcame me. “Didn’t she make it out?”

Dr. Edgeway closed his eyes in pain. The torment on his face spoke volumes of the level of his grief. “No. She didn’t.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I had only had a brief meeting with the girl. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. But in that moment, I mourned her as if we had been lifelong friends.

Dr. Edgeway didn’t respond. Instead, he stared down at the ring. “This was a high school graduation gift to Sarah from her mother and me. She had always wanted an emerald ring like her mother had.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine why she would have given it away.”

I knew that what I had to say was only going to make Dr. Edgeway feel worse. “She didn’t want to give it away. She only asked me to hold on to it for her in case she could one day get it back.”

His silver brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Now it was my turn to close my eyes in pain. “The day after I arrived at the compound, Mendoza immediately made me his favorite. Besides being with him, one part of my job was to help acclimate the new girls who were brought in. Since I could speak English, I had to inform them of what was expected of them. Anything they had on them was taken. Jewelry was allegedly used to pay for their food until they were sold.”

Bile rose in my throat as I thought of the frightened girls I had been forced to talk to. I understood their fear even though I hadn’t received the same treatment. Instead, I had received my induction straight from Mendoza. Of course, mine was far different from that of the other girls, since I was selected to stay at the compound.

Focusing on Dr. Edgeway again, I continued. “I guess it was just two days ago when I met Sarah, and she asked me to take the ring and keep it for her. Since none of the other girls had been so attached to what they had, I felt I had to do as she asked. So I took it. And when Mendoza noticed it on my hand, I lied and told him I had wanted to pretend it was a present from him.” Revulsion rose in me at the memory of having to play those survival games. “After he beat me, he let me keep it.”

Dr. Edgeway cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry you endured that just to make Sarah feel better.”

Tears stung my eyes. Tears of anger. Tears of anguish. Tears of desperation. While I should have been touched by Dr. Edgeway apologizing for the physical pain I had endured, the blackened part of my soul wanted to lash out at him. How could he possibly think his sorrow could ever take away the degrading and deplorable things that I had experienced? Words only minimalized the suffering I had been through. But just as fast as the rage had risen up inside me, the more rational side of my mind reasoned that the man before me was a grief-stricken father trying his best to wade through the quicksand he now found himself in. “I’m just sorry I never got the chance to return it to her.” My voice hitched as I in turn minimalized his suffering with mere words.

“So am I,” he replied. With an agonized sigh, he slipped the ring in his pocket. “I suppose we better get to the task at hand before Rev wonders what is going on in here.”

“Okay,” I replied as I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.

He eyed the machines I was hooked up to and the IV bag. “While I should be grateful there was a hospital to bring you to in this godforsaken place, I’m not impressed with their level of care compared to back in the States,” he remarked.

When he reached for the sheet, I involuntarily gripped the edges tighter. Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s to be expected after what you’ve been through, especially with a male doctor.”

After I released the fabric, Dr. Edgeway pulled the sheet down and then eased my gown up over my abdomen. “The incision looks like it is healing well, no signs of infection.” When he lightly tapped my stomach, I flinched. “It’s not surprising that you’re sore. Besides the surgery, you had been worked over quite extensively.”

“What exactly did you have to do?”

Dr. Edgeway didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he put my gown back in place and pulled the sheet up. Finally, after what felt like an eternity had passed, he cleared his throat. “The blunt force trauma you sustained caused your spleen to rupture. If Rev hadn’t found you when he did, you would have died from internal hemorrhaging in another hour.”

Bile rose in my throat as I painfully recalled my last hours in the compound. “I’m not too surprised that Mendoza left me to die. . . . He wanted me dead.”

“It was pretty evident from your injuries that’s what he intended.”

“So you just had to take out my spleen?”

After glancing down at the tile floor, Dr. Edgeway shook his head. “The blunt force trauma also caused a miscarriage—” My gasp of horror forced his gaze to meet mine.

“I was . . . pregnant?”

“Yes. You were.”

I could barely wrap my mind around such a thought. Of course, I had long been denied my birth control pills while in captivity, and since I was owned by Mendoza, he didn’t bother with condoms. I guess nature had taken its course. But the thought of carrying that monster’s child made my stomach roil in revulsion. At least there were some small mercies, and I had lost the baby. As much as I loved children and wanted them someday, I didn’t think I could have withstood raising a child of Mendoza’s.

“But I’m afraid that’s not the worst of it.”

“I’m sorry?”

“The miscarriage caused a tear in your uterine lining that couldn’t be repaired. The only way to stop the bleeding was to perform an emergency hysterectomy.”

Although Dr. Edgeway appeared to continue speaking, I couldn’t make out anything else he said. Absently, my hand came to rest on my abdomen. My now-barren abdomen. “I can’t have children,” I whispered in disbelief. I suddenly hoped and prayed that at any moment I would wake up from the nightmare, even if it found me back at Mendoza’s compound.

“You can’t carry a child, but you can still have a child of your own.”

“What?” I questioned absently.

“Annabel, look at me,” Dr. Edgeway instructed. When I finally met his gaze, he said, “You still have your ovaries. With today’s modern fertility treatments, you can have your own child via a surrogate. It isn’t impossible, especially for someone from your background.”

I know he didn’t intend it, but it sounded like Dr. Edgeway thought that I should be grateful for the wealthy background I came from. Allegedly it would be my salvation—the only way I could ever have a child of my own flesh and blood. But at that moment, money, status, or prestige didn’t mean shit. It sure as hell hadn’t saved me from Mendoza. And there was no way financial wealth could reassemble the fractured pieces of my life. There were some things that money simply could not buy.

“Annabel, you will heal and move on.”

“But I’ll never have life within me,” I challenged.

He shook his head slowly. “No. You won’t.”

I felt like I was being pummeled with new waves of grief and loss. After all I had endured, now I had survived only to learn I could never carry a child?

Why?

For the thousandth time I asked myself that one question.

Why?

Why me? Why did bad things keep happening? It struck me in that moment that while I might’ve physically escaped from my nightmare, I would be forced to continuously endure the emotional aftershocks. I became so overwhelmed with dark and desperate feelings then that I didn’t think I could keep my head up. “I’m very tired. I think I need to rest.”

“I’m sorry, Annabel. If I could have gotten to you sooner and under different circumstances, maybe I could have repaired the tear without having to remove the uterus.”

Even though he was sincere, I didn’t want his apology. Nothing he could say or do could ever make things right for me. No one could. At that moment, I realized I had traded one hell for another.

From this day forward, I would never be anything more than a shameful burden to my parents. As a woman who had been defiled by criminals, I would be considered damaged goods. Preston would never date or marry me, and for that matter neither would any other man in our social circle. Even if someone did, I couldn’t bear the picture-perfect family for him. No political propaganda commercial would want to feature a couple along with their surrogate.

There would be no going back to the life I had had before. The future that spread out before me was desolate and bleak. As I closed my eyes, I wished that Rev had never found me, and instead had allowed me to die on the floor of Mendoza’s compound like the worthless trash I was.