* * *
“Now, where were we, bitch?” Viper snarled as he came in from outside. Cara cringed as he approached her. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he dragged her in front of him. “Mouth open wide.”
“Stop it, leave her alone,” Eric said.
“Fuck! Will you shut that whiny motherfucker up?”
“Anything you say, Prez.” Rot took out his hunting knife, and in one swift move, slit Eric’s throat. He gurgled, then grew silent as his body landed with a thud on the cold, wood floor. Cara’s screams bounced off the shack’s walls.
Viper punched her in the face. “You’ll be next, if you don’t stop.” Tugging her face to his crotch, he unzipped his pants and pried her mouth open. “Let’s have some fun, whore.”
Chapter Thirty
Hawk crept toward the illuminated shack like a panther stalking his prey. He moved silently, freezing every so often to avoid detection. Jax and Chas, hidden by the shrubs, sneaked on each side of the shack and positioned themselves by a window dirtied from age. Ruben stood watch in the distance in case other Nomads were in the area.
Beaver stood just outside the shack and watched his prez smack Cara’s face. Shrouded in the darkness, Hawk seethed as he saw Beaver rub his dick while his eyes fixed on the scene unfolding in the shack. The more Cara cried and twisted away from Viper, the harder Viper yanked her head back. Beaver’s hiss through his teeth when Viper cut Cara’s t-shirt and bra down the middle enraged Hawk. Viper’s coarse, smoker’s voice filtered outside the shack. “You got great tits, sweetheart. I can’t wait to squeeze and bite them. Open up, slut. You got some cock to suck. Damn, your tits feel good in my hands.” Beaver rubbed himself harder and harder, and Hawk saw red.
Before he could jerk off again, Beaver was down on his stomach, a hand over his mouth and a wild beast on his back. He didn’t have a chance to fight back, and in a matter of seconds, he was out cold. Hawk motioned Chas to drag the asshole’s body away.
Hawk, looking through the small window to the right of the shack’s door, saw Eric’s motionless body in a pool of blood, Rot jerking off, and Viper in front of a kneeling Cara, who was bruised and bloody. He saw her lips quiver, her exposed breasts, and Viper stuffing his dick in her mouth. In a flash, all logic and reason dissipated, and Hawk became feral.
He rushed into the small room and sprang toward Viper. With his arms extended, Hawk grasped Viper’s neck and shoulders, placed his hands around Viper’s neck, and pressed tightly. Viper, startled by the attack, thrashed his arms before he regained his balance, looping his leg around one of Hawk’s and kicking it out from under him. Hawk fell down and Rot, wielding a small hunting knife, threw his weight on top of him. Grabbing Rot’s arms, Hawk fought to keep the knife away from him. As Hawk fended off Viper and Rot, Jax stormed in and dashed over to help his brother.
The loud pop deafened Cara’s ears, and everything presented itself in slow motion: Hawk’s fight, Jax’s shocked look as blood oozed out of his lower stomach, Viper’s .22 revolver pointed at Hawk’s head, Chas frozen at the door. There was no doubt in her mind that Viper aimed to kill Hawk, and if Chas rushed toward Viper, Hawk and Jax would both be killed. Feeling like she was in a dream, placid-faced Cara picked up a splintered plank covered in cobwebs and dust, stood behind Viper, threw her arms back, and slammed the rotting plank on the back of Viper’s skull. It sounded like wooden sticks breaking. Dropping the gun, Viper fell to his knees as dark-red streaks gushed down his neck. He toppled over onto the rough floor, and the dirt, like a sponge, sopped up his blood.
Rot turned to see what happened to Viper, and in the split-second he diverted his attention, Hawk had him on his back, punching the shit out of him. Chas ran over to Hawk and said, “We gotta get outta here. Jax’s hurt bad.”
Hawk ran over to Jax’s side as his eyes rolled back in his head, blood oozing from his wound. “Don’t die on me, brother. Don’t fuckin’ die on me.” Hawk took off his shirt and pressed down hard on Jax’s wound to try and stop the bleeding. His pleas to a fallen brother broke Cara’s heart.
“Let’s go. We’ve gotta get him help. Let’s move!” Chas ran out of the shack and screamed for Ruben.
Cara stared wide-eyed at Hawk. “You can’t move him. If you do, he’ll die. You know this is insane.”
Hawk, kneeling by Jax, extended his hand to Cara. She grasped it and he drew her close to him before he hugged her and feathered kisses on her beaten face. Holding her next to him, he whispered, “I can’t let Jax die. You’re right. If he doesn’t get to a hospital, he’ll die. Call 911.”
“I already did.”
When Ruben and Chas came back in, Hawk said, “Take off. No sense involving yourselves. I’ll handle this. Badges and ambulance are on their way. Ride to freedom. Go. Now.”
“We’re standing with you, brother,” they said. “We’ve got your back.”
No matter how hard Hawk argued, Chas and Ruben were resolute in their decision.
Cara sat on the ground, transfixed. She hadn’t seen Viper move since she cracked his skull. What if I killed him? I can’t deal with this. But, I had to stop him. I had to. He would’ve killed Hawk, but I can’t believe I killed him. I can’t believe any of this happened. How did my life get so fucked-up?
Hawk, his eyes narrowed in hatred, walked over to Viper. As he stood over the crumpled man, he stomped his leather boot on Viper’s balls with full force. “Never.” Stomp. “Fuckin’.” Stomp. Stomp. “Touch my woman.” Stomp. Two kicks. “Motherfucker!” Two more kicks to the side and face. The wail of sirens drew near, and Cara moved away from Hawk and walked over to Eric’s lifeless body. Kneeling, she put her head on his cold chest and shivered. She smoothed out his shirt with trembling fingers, her breathing labored. Squeezing her eyes shut as her shoulders shook, Hawk came over to rub her back and stroke her hair in silence.
Red and blue lights flashed through the grimy windows, and Ruben and Chas stood aside as the paramedics rushed in, kneeling beside Jax. Right away, they placed him on high-flow oxygen after they examined his airway then placed a pressure bandage on his wound to stop the bleeding. One of the men checked Jax’s pulse and said, “Sir, can you hear me? Sir?” Jax’s eyelids fluttered.
The men worked fast to get Jax on a long back board. They rolled him toward them, and one of the medics patted down his back to look for the bullet’s exit wound, but found nothing. When they loaded him on a gurney and into the ambulance, Cara heard one of the paramedics ask, “Are you feeling any pain?” She looked at the opened door and saw Jax hooked up to two IVs. One of the paramedics came back into the shack. “I need someone who can answer some questions about the injured’s alcohol or drug usage tonight and when he last ate. I also need to know if he’s taking any medication or if he has any allergies. Who can help me with that?”
Giving Cara a hug, Hawk stood up and walked toward the ambulance. She watched the doors close, then the red flashing lights and wailing siren sped away.
A grip on her shoulder forced her to turn around. Josh gave Cara a faint smile and held her arm as he helped her to her feet. Her legs were wobbly, and she collapsed into his arms. Two police officers taped off the area around Eric’s body as they processed the scene. Josh dragged her out of the way, the biting cold reviving her as Cara gulped in breaths of icy air.
“Eric did horrible things to those women, Josh. How could he? How could I not have known something was wrong?” she said in a flat voice.
“I know this is hard, Cara, but please don’t blame yourself. Eric was a very disturbed man. Try to think of the Eric you knew, not the one he had become.”
“I think I killed Viper. I know he would’ve killed Hawk if I hadn’t stopped him. I think I killed a man.” The gravity of her statement hit her full-force, and warm dampness streaked her face.
“Viper isn’t dead. He’s hurt, but he isn’t dead.”
Cara crossed her arms around her chest, took a deep breath, and geared herself up for a long night. She wanted to go home, take a warm shower, and shut off her memory. She looked at Josh and said, “Let’s get this over with.”
Inside the shack, she saw Chas and Ruben as detectives spoke to them, answering the investigators’ questions in single syllables. They avoided her looks. One of the detectives walked over and told her he wanted to take her statement. Cara sighed before she recited what happened on one of the longest nights of her life.
Chapter Thirty-One
It seemed fitting that Eric’s funeral was on a gray, bleak morning. Dressed in black, the mourners looked like a flock of crows, their coats and veils whipping furiously in the bitter wind. They crowded before a mahogany casket, a white cloak draped over it. Cara’s aunt, Eric’s mother, sat on a canvas folding chair, sobbing, while Cara stood by her parents. Her father held her gloved hand and squeezed it as dampness glistened on her lashes.
Cara tossed a dozen roses on the grave, and their red petals looked like drops of blood against the snow. She patted Eric’s coffin and whispered, “You’re finally rid of your demons. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat then retreated with the other grievers. She noticed Nancy was not at the funeral, but she didn’t blame her. Nancy knew Eric during his dark years, and she had been, understandably, appalled at the news that her fiancé was the Mountainside Strangler. Cara felt blessed she had many years of good memories with Eric, but she couldn’t get the mutilated bodies out of her mind, and Nadyia’s dead eyes haunted her sleep.