“That’s amazing. You know that, right? You survived where others wouldn’t. Why didn’t you just walk into a cop shop?”
“I didn’t know who had taken us. I wasn’t sure that they would help me or take me straight back there. All I knew was that I needed to get to Black Saints MC and find Blake.”
“I’m so glad you did. I’ll never forget seeing you falling through our door.”
“Yeah, not the best entrance to a room I’ve ever had.” She smiles and looks up at me.
All I want to do is kiss her, but I’m not sure that she’s ready yet. “Why did you want to sit on the bed, Braxton?” She’s timid and shy suddenly, not like the woman I’ve been talking to for the last day.
“I wanted to be close to you and let you know that you’re not alone.”
“Thanks, I needed that comfort. I usually got it from Mallory when we were sleeping at night.”
“Well anytime you need comfort, come to me and I’ll give it to you.”
We sit like that for a while and then Doc comes in. I get off the bed. “I need to make a phone call and then I’ll be back.” I kiss her on the cheek instinctively, she looks up at me and smiles.
When I’m outside her room, I dial the number I have for Damian. He picks up after two rings.
“Hey, Brax, how can I help you?” Damian’s deep voice rumbles through the phone.
“Damian, we’ve got a situation. You know Mallory, right, Prez’s sister?” He’s been to our clubhouse before and met Mallory, I’m sure of it.
“Yeah, scrawny little kid the last time I saw her. What did she do?” He laughs.
“She disappeared two years ago and last night a woman fell through our door saying her name. She told us that she was trafficked, and she met Mallory. She somehow managed to escape and Mallory told her to trust no one and to come here and find Prez.”
“Fuck, really? That’s fucked up. Well, anything we can do to help we will be on it?”
“Actually, that’s what I’m calling for. When Piper escaped, she said the nearest town was White Water. I know it’s not far from you guys so I was hoping you might have heard of a sex trafficking ring nearby.”
“Brax, if we knew about something like that, we would shut it down. You know what we do here, we help abused women.”
“I know that’s why I’m calling. Have you heard anything about it?”
“No, Brax, but we will help. Get Mason to talk to Snoopy, they talk all that computer shit. We’ll work with you and find these fuckers, bring them down and bring Mallory home. Tell Prez it would be good to see him.”
“I will do and thanks I’ll get them to hook up and talk about what we’ve got and what Snoopy has. Damian, thanks.”
“No worries, Brax.” He hangs up.
I’m leaning against the wall, when I hear my name being called, “Braxton.”
Shit. I open the door and rush inside. Doc is holding Piper down as she seems to be having some sort of seizure. “Doc, what do you need me to do?” I can feel myself panicking.
“Hold her and keep her safe, while I give her some buccolam to stop the seizure, then we can try and find out what caused it.”
He lets her go and I hold her down, pull her onto my lap and hold her tight to stop the seizures. She calms down before he gives her the medicine and she’s like a floppy rag doll in my arms. When she’s been calm for a few minutes, I brush her hair off her face, and she looks up at me. “What happened?”
“Babe, you had a seizure, has that happened to you before?”
“No, never. It was scary. I was aware of you being in the room but not in control of my movements.”
Doc walks over to us. “I think it’s part of the withdrawal from whatever meds they were giving you every day.”
“Do you mean I’m a fucking addict now, too?” Piper tries to sit up, but I don’t let her go.
“Unfortunately, yes kind of. But we need to work out what they were giving you and the others.”