Page 57 of Marlin's Faith

I looked around at the stark, white walls, the stink of desperation filling my nose and finally looked at my sister as the handcuffs came free and I withdrew my hands from the little portal.

“I don’t understand…” I moaned and hated how scared and defeated I sounded.

“I know, there was no time to explain, it happened all on the fly, come here.” She dropped onto one of the benches ringing the room and I sat down beside her.

“Here’s what’s up, Bubbles. I had some problems with these assholes when I came to get you. They’d let you go with those dicks before I could get here and it pissed me off. I felt like I’d gotten so close, but yet was back to square one, you know?” I nodded, and listened to my sister, rapt.

“So when they pulled us over, I knew they didn’t have a reason. I also knew it meant you were going to get picked up. I called Joe; he was one of the detectives that raided the place where you got picked up the first time. I knew if I could get him down here to interview you, that it’d put these fuckers on notice. I’m glad I did it too.” She sniffed, eyes welling with angry tears and my heart gave a fractured ache.

“When that son of a bitch put his hands on you, I knew you were going to need more than just Joe here to watch your back. Felt really good to punch him, just sayin’, and I’d fucking do it again in a heartbeat. Nobody, and I do meannobody, disrespects my girls in front of me like that without paying some kind of price.”

“Oh, Hope,” I grabbed my sister and hugged her fiercely, tears sliding down both our faces. I sniffed and she laughed a little brokenly.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked, making the decision that I needed to be an agent of my own rescue for a change. That if my sister were going to be brave, possibly even throw her career away for me, that at the very least I could pretend to be strong just long enough until we were both clear of this mess.

As if she’d read my mind that was almost exactly word for word, what my sister told me: “Just be strong, Bubbles. Okay? Just be strong for us and trust us. Believe in us that we’ll get you out of this mess.”

I nodded and linked fingers with her, “What about you?” I asked, not fully satisfied with simply worrying about my own hide.

“Don’t you worry about me, Little Sister, I’ve got this and what I can’t handle up front, the guys have got my back and will help me handle when I’m in a better position to do it.” There wasn’t one iota of doubt or worry in my sister’s voice. So strong was her conviction, that I let myself believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that things were going to work out and everything was going to be just fine.

29

Marlin…

I felt caged and I hated that I could feel this way knowing that my girl was the one behind physical bars,with those fuckin’ animals.I was smoking like a fuckin’ chimney listening to the Captain and that lawyer of Ruth’s talk it out. I didn’t sleep; instead I parked my ass on one of the picnic tables out front of the compound’s doors staring out at the green slats in the chain link. The bikes parked to either side of the cement slab of a drive gleaming softly in the diffuse light of the half-moon hangin’ high in the sky.

Cutter dropped onto the table beside me, propping his booted feet on the bench, much like me. I sucked in a drag and dropped my cig into the coffee can full of ‘em at my hip.

“How are you not goin’ fuckin’ crazy?” I asked him.

“Hope can take care of herself and then some; I ain’t got nothin’ to worry about ‘cept gettin’ your girl out intact. You been doin’ good with her, you two been findin’ some happy in each other. It’s nice to see.”

“Thanks,” I said and sighed out. “I’m just worried about how far this might set her back.”

“Won’t know that until we get her out tomorrow.”

“Think the lawyer has a shot at making that happen?”

“Pretty sure.”

“And Hope?” I asked when the Captain became more guarded.

“Probably not, she assaulted a cop. There’s more, the Russians have those hick fuckin’ cops in their pocket. Ruth says they’re bad business and might not give up now that the girls are here and they have a scent to follow.”

We searched each other’s faces for a long, drawn out minute and Cutter asked, “You still good buddies with that orange grower?”

“Bobby? Yeah, what ‘cha thinkin’? I should take Faith out there instead of the home front?”

Cutter was nodding scraping his bottom lip between his teeth, “Yeah, at least until all of us are back in town.”

I nodded, too; saying to him, “You know Faith ain’t gonna wanna leave Hope here, locked up by herself.”

“So don’t give her a choice. You saw her, Bro. It’s too soon, she ain’t gotta be norshould shebe strong. You feel me? You need to get her the fuck out of here at the first opportunity and get her back on track and makin’ progress again. ‘Sides,” he slid of the table and stood on the cracked concrete, “If Hope is anyone’s responsibility she’s mine, bein’ my woman an’ all.”

I nodded, that more than anything told me how much it bothered the Captain that Hope was locked up with her sister. Even though he’d agreed with the course of action, it didn’t make it any easier to be on the outside, separated and all thing’s said and done, helpless. Helpless didn’t sit well with men like us.

“I’d better call Bobby,” I said, sliding my phone out of the inside pocket of my cut.

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