Page 16 of Fury
“I’m Willa, Mason’s girlfriend. You’re his sister, Bethany.”
Jesus. Just remembering it gave her chills.
Things had happened fast, after that. He’d come close, talking to Willa like he knew her, and Bethy believed he did, because Willa had accused him of kidnapping her, comparing it to something in the past. She’d named the man, Luke Judge, and had put herself between where Bethy and the other woman stood and him as he approached. Protecting them.Davy’s girlfriend.
Then Judge had gone crazy.Crazier, she thought, pressing her palms tighter to the sides of her head. He’d ordered her and the other woman back into their cells. For a moment, Bethy had thought about rushing him. Then he had his hand on Willa’s throat, had lifted her to her toes, choking her.He’d have killed her. In the few seconds of indecision, Willa’s struggling had already gotten weaker, her hands gripping his wrists instead of fighting him. So, Bethy had stared at the other woman. Then they had both backed through the open doors, pushing them closed.
But he didn’t stop choking Willa, hadn’t stopped. Bethy thought he was going to kill her, no matter they’d all complied with his demands. Yelling, screaming like she hadn’t done since the first few days in her cell, Bethy had pounded on the glass. Little smears of blood attested to how hard she’d pounded, hoping to get his attention, hoping to make him stop.I tried to save her, Davy.
Then he took Willa into her cell, and it wasn’t long before the other noises started. The ones that had driven Bethy to cover her ears. She’d been sitting like this for hours. A lifetime.
The sound of a gunshot ripped through the air and Bethy screamed, crossing her arms over her head. “Oh, my God. She’s dead.” Bethy didn’t recognize her own voice. “She’s dead.” Holding her breath, she swallowed a scream, her head repeating the words she wouldn’t allow from her mouth.She’s dead. She’s dead. Davy’s girlfriend. She’s dead.
Nothing happened for a long time, minutes ticking past while she waited for Judge to come for her. He had already killed the second woman, Bethy believed that because the woman had never been quiet, not for this long at least.He’s coming for me. She’s dead, and he’s coming for me. She swallowed.I love you, Davy. Love you, Ty.She swallowed again, tears wet on her cheeks. I love you, Michael. My son. Please know I love you.
Shouting, yelling and screaming, her relief at recognizing Willa’s voice countered by Judge’s angry shouts which were so loud they sounded like he was right on top of her, and Bethy cowered on the floor. Then another gunshot. Hands pressed against her mouth, Bethy kept herself from screaming, repeating her litany of love.Davy, Ty, Michael, I love you. A noise, and for a moment she thought she’d blacked out.Derek, I love you. The door behind her pushed open, and she sprawled on her side, hands lifted to fend off the bullet she knew was coming.
Blinking, staring up, Bethy looked into the pale face of Willa standing over her, gun gripped loosely in one hand, a knife in the other.
***
“Hold up. Wait,” Bethy whispered to Willa, slowing their run, trying to accommodate the slower pace of the third woman, who had introduced herself as Mica. “Wait for Mica.”
“You know where we’re going?” Willa’s question was a whisper, too, and Bethy knew it was because her throat hurt. She was badly bruised; her neck bore dark circles where Judge had choked her. Shaking her head, Bethy didn’t give another answer. There was no way she could know. It was slow going because Willa was injured, and Mica was dealing with the aftereffects from the drugs he’d used to incapacitate her while Bethy was weakened after her weeks in captivity. And, even after running and walking through the woods for hours, they hadn’t come upon a road or even seen a building.
“Away. We’re going away. I grew up in the woods, but these aren’t Kentucky trees. I don’t know where we are. So for right now, we’re just going away.” She leaned sideways, pressed a palm to the bark of a tree and looked over her shoulder back up the trail, thinking for a moment she’d seen something move in the distance. “I wish we’d brought the weapons.” They hadn’t, though. Willa had been adamant, and after what she imagined the woman had been through, Bethy hadn’t pushed her. “Luke Judge was still locked up when we got out of there, but what if he gets out? We can’t take the risk. We gotta get as far away as we can.”
Willa looped her arm through Mica’s, pulling the woman to her side. Whispering, she said, “Luke Morgan. That’s his name, but people call him Judge.”
Bethy stopped, staring at Willa, hearing Davy’s voice as he told her,“Justice Morgan is a powerful man, but he ain’t nothing to us.”Slowly, she asked, “His last name’s Morgan?” She pulled in a breath. “Do you know his daddy’s name?”
Willa tipped her head to the side and chewed her lip. “John. John Morgan. People call him Shooter.”
Bethy bent double, sucking in a hard breath.My nephew was going to kill me.
“Can we go?” That was Mica, and her shaky voice pushed Bethy to get herself back under control. “My husband and son are in Chicago. I need to…I want to go home.”
“We will,” Willa reassured, her voice raw and hoarse. She soothed Mica with the slow caress of her palm up and down her back. “We will, right, Bethy?”
Nodding, Bethy fought against tears. From the few things Willa had said, she knew Luke…Judge had raped her. Raped her, and still she had fought him. Fought him and gained control of the gun she’d used to shoot him. Forced him to release her.She set us all free. “We are all gonna go home,” Bethy vowed. “Every one of us.”
“Willa.” A man’s voice called from behind them, and all three women screamed, Bethy jumping to put herself in front of Willa and Mica. In her fear, it was Luke she saw coming at her, hands out. He was followed by another man, and she again cursed Willa for not letting her bring the gun. “Willa, it’s Hoss, honey.” Bethy blinked, the man’s face gradually resolving into a stranger’s, with warm brown eyes instead of the cold grey ones seen in her nightmares.
“Hoss,” Willa cried, and then pushed past Bethy, running straight at the man. Bethy didn’t know him, didn’t know his face, but she knew he wasn’t Luke. He planted both feet and wrapped his arms around Willa when she hit his chest. Crying, she was sobbing and hiccupping, asking for Davy. She went strangely still when he said Davy was waiting back at the compound.
Mica stood next to Bethy, arm around her waist as she said in a relieved voice, “We’re safe, Bethy. Safe.”
“Who…how do you know them?” Even before she finished asking the question she knew. Between Davy and Watcher, she’d been introduced to enough bikers they were friends with to recognize the type. Hoss and, she squinted, trying to read the name on the second man’s vest, Gunny, had to be with Davy. A third man came into view, his red beard causing her breath to catch in her chest for a moment before realizing she didn’t recognize him. Tater, his vest said. “Davy came for you, Willa. Like you said he would.”
Hoss looked at her then, and said, “Bethany. We’re here for all of you.” He gestured behind her and Mica stepped forwards. “All of you. There’s more back,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “there where y’all were. Watcher’s there, so’s Bones. You know them, right?”
Chin quivering, Bethy nodded, belief finally seeping into her belly.Safe.
On the plane headed back to Chicago and then Fort Wayne, Bethy sat beside Davy, recounting everything she could think of, wanting to purge it from her mind. As she narrated the past weeks, his tension was palpable, muscles all over his body tight. When she told him about Willa trying to protect them, and then in the end saving them all, his jaw moved as he ground his teeth, his jaw clenching repeatedly while he tried to hold onto his composure. Willa had retreated into herself after they got back to the compound. Bethy wondered if it was because Davy was there. Still, he made Willa feel safe enough that she could lean on him, quietly falling apart in his arms.
“She’s pretty amazing, Davy.” He nodded, eyes on a sleeping Willa, and in the intensity of his gaze Bethy saw how much he loved this woman.So much more than just a girlfriend, she thought, a little wistfully.She’s part of his family now. I love you, Michael. “I want to go home, Davy. When can I go back?”
He leaned close and pressed his lips to the side of her head, answering absently, “Soon.”
