Page 55 of Fox and Nitro
“Friends with who?”
“Our dad,” she whispers, her eyes drifting to the bed before filling with tears.
“Do you need me to call him? Your dad?” Fox asks, stepping closer.
The spitfire one screams out “no” while the other shakes and sobs in her sister’s arms.
I share a look with Fox before taking a knee on the ground, not even caring if I get piss on me.
“Girls, my partner Fox and I, we are not friends with your dad. He is not a nice man, and we want to make sure he goes away for a long time and doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
The timid twin peeks at me, then her eyes move to Fox, who is kneeling beside me in the doorway of the closet.
“Did you see the person who hurt your mommy?” Fox asks gently, softening his face.
The twins both nod before sharing a look. The timid one cuddles her sister tightly while the other looks at me with eyes too mature for a kid. “It was our dad. We watched him hurt her. He said if we said anything he’d come back and he’d do the same to us.” Her bottom lip trembles for a moment before she pulls a little pocket knife out from behind her. “But I would have protected us, I have this.”
“You’re such a brave girl, honey.” I say, voice breaking a little that someone so young had resigned herself to the fact that she would have to hurt a man to protect herself and her sister. “Can you tell us your dad’s name?”
“Travis Hitchens. He told us not to tell anyone what happened. He said he had some bad people he’d give us to if we didn’t shut up and behave.”
“Ah fuck,” Fox curses gently behind me, his footsteps leading him out of the room and I can hear him with Moss on the phone rather than the dispatch phone.
I’m trying so hard to tamp down the urge to punch a hole in the fucking wall that I’m shaking with the effort. My heart is fucking beating in my ears and I know that if I don’t calm down then I’ll scare two little girls who have seen enough.
“Moss is on his way, we’re gonna take the girls to the clubhouse. Get Switch to check them over,” Fox murmurs before brightening a little. “OK girls, we’re gonna get you out of here and take you somewhere safe.”
They shake their heads, “No, we can’t go to the police, he’ll know we talked!” The brave sister starts to lose it now and all my instincts are telling me to grab her, hold her tight and help her calm down but I know my uniform is probably triggering her.
“No, no, we’re from the Devil’s Rose MC. Have you seen us around? We ride motorcycles,” Fox says, a tight smile on his face.
“You give toys to kids sometimes,” the quieter twin says.
“Yes! That’s us, every year we collect toys to give to children if Santa can’t make it to their house.” They nod. Calming down a little. “We’re going to take you to our clubhouse, the MC clubhouse. We can hide you there and your dad and his friends won’t know where to find you. Does that sound OK?”
They share a look before turning and nodding.
“OK, let’s get you out of there,” I lean forward to take the quieter one, wrapping her in my arms. She squirms a little and I pull back to look down at her little face.
“I wet myself. I’m sorry,” her lips trembles and my heart breaks for her.
“Shhh, it’s OK. Sometimes it happens. One time Fox peed on me.”
“I was scared you big shit!” Fox says, playing it up. The sound of identical giggles has the band around my heart loosening a little.
“Moss is waiting around the back. Get them out there and we’ll leave out the front. No one will know they were ever here,” Fox murmurs to me.
I lead the way out the back of the house where Moss’s SUV sits in the middle of the back yard. He steps out of the car with a face like fucking thunder.
“When you said out back, I didn’t think you meant through the fucking field into the backyard,” Fox jokes. Moss doesn’t even crack a smile, and Fox’s drops from his face. “What’s wrong?”
“That fu -” Moss’s eyes dart to the kids. “He turned up at the school. Turns out Jazz met Joy at the medical center. Offered to help her, and gave Joy her number. He tracked Jazz down,pissed that his other wife was missing and slapped Jazz around some.”
The growl that rips out of me is animalistic, so much so that the little girl in my arms flinches. “Shit, sorry honey,” I try to soothe, but it’s Fox’s hand on my shoulder that has my blood pressure lowering.
“Zane, I’m fine, stop scaring the children,” Jazz’s voice is sweet music to my ears. Even with a bruised and swollen cheek she has a soft smile painted on her face as she gives the kids in our arms a soft look. “Hey there, I’m Jasmine, let’s get you two somewhere safe.” She smiles, opens her arms and the little one in mine launches herself at Jazz, letting Jazz buckle her into the backseat before her sister does the same.
“Get them out of here, we’ll meet you at the clubhouse.”
