Page 8 of Charlotte
“There’s no need for thanks, sweetheart. We are just glad you are able to eat something. I wasn’t convinced you would pull through the day we found you in the jungle.” Dude states frankly. Others verbalize their agreement with grunts. She reaches out to get the fork on the tray, but I swat her hand away and proceed to feed her. The men seem to settle in, content to watch.
“I heard you all discussing the gun runners. I need to tell you what I know about them.” Charlotte relays to us between bites as I am feeding her. “I overheard them talking about a big shipment of guns and drugs set to cross the border in Texas. They didn’t know I spoke or understood Spanish, so they spoke freely in front of me. They know the officers, their schedules, and when they change out. They are going to kidnap members of their family and use them to get the officers to let them bring everything across. It’s set to happen sometime soon, but I didn’t get an exact date. They seemed to be very certain they would be successful.”
“When did you hear all this?” Wolf asks.
“I sorry, I’m not sure it’s been several days, a week maybe. I had a hard time keeping track of the time.”
“That’s understandable.” Deadeye replies. “How many men were keeping you captive?”
“Most of the time there were only three men, but they had company the day I overhead about the shipment.” She shivers as she remembers the men that were there that day. “There were 3 other men there that day. They only stayed a short time. I think that one of my captors, Asshole, was related to one of the other men. The leader of the newcomers called him brother and asked why they were there. Asshole replied that it was a family hideout and he had as much right as anyone.”
“Asshole?” Straw inquires as the men all chuckle.
“Yeah, I didn’t know their names, so I named them in my head. The other two I named Tweedledee and Tweedledum as they seemed rather simple.” Charlotte replied with a slight blush of embarrassment at her explanation.
“Can you describe the men, especially the leader?” I ask. I don’t want to upset her, but she may be able to shed some light onto the men we are dealing with.
“He was evil looking. His eyes were black and cold. It was like looking at Satan, himself. He had short black hair and a mustache. He was fairly tall as far as men go. He was fairly slim, but muscular.” She shudders again as another memory flashes in her mind.
“What did they do to you?” I ask, but not sure if I can handle what she might revel. She just shakes her head. I place my hand gently on her chin and turn her to look at me. “Tell me love, what has you so rattled and shaking.” I softly command her to answer me. She closes her eyes and taking a deep breath relates what happened.
“I was just remembering Asshole offering me to the leader, Satan. Thankfully he had declined saying he didn’t have time to fuck a filthy American in a tool shed, but to bring me to him in a few days and he would break me in.” Her voice was soft, but everyone heard what she said. My eyes dart to my men and see the same look of revulsion that I feel. Once again, I have an overwhelming urge to hunt those men down and give them a slow painful death at the hands of the best trained soldier America has to offer. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep the anger at bay, but I need to try for her sake.
“Mother fucker!” Cookie exclaims.
“Bastard!” Tank mutters. Several others swore at Charlotte’s announcement.
Charlotte clamps her mouth shut as I try to place some of the pasta meal into her mouth. She shakes her head in protest as I try again. It concerns me. She isn’t taking in enough to sustain her much less heal her battered and broken body.
“You need to eat to build your strength up.” I state firmly, using my Daddy voice that gets Brian to comply with any request.
“I know, but I just can’t.” She whines. “It’s been months since I have had anything remotely decent to eat. I truly appreciate your concern, but I don’t want to get sick. I hate throwing up and in the shape I’m in at the moment I don’t think I could stand it. God, it would hurt my ribs so bad.” She declares with fresh tears in her eyes. She looks up to the twelve pairs of eyes boring into her with concern and empathy. It’s all over now. The tears flow freely down her face as a sob escapes her lips.
Chapter 7
Charlotte
The menall clear the room as Hawk takes me into his arms again trying to soothe me. I feel like such a child. I need to get it together. The last thing they need is to be worrying about a mess of a woman. But when I saw the concern and empathy from these hardcore badass Alpha males, it was all over. The tears were again flowing freely. Once my tears have abated, Hawk wipes my face gently.
“You ok now, love?”
“Yes, I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I can’t seem to stop them once they start.” I tell him.
“It’s completely reasonable. You have been through a lot over the last few months and you are hurt, in a foreign country, and with a group of strangers. But know this, we will do our very best to get you home to your family and ensure that you are never hurt again.” Hawk says with such intensity that I shiver under his stare.
“I know and I am so thankful that God put you on that trail when I needed you so desperately. I don’t think…No, I know I would not have survived what they were intending to do to me. I’m not strong. I know that. I would have given up and fallen into the despair they wanted me to so they could control me.”
“I know you don’t want to relive what happened, but you need to talk about what happened to you. What they did to you. I am here and I will listen all day if you will just talk to me. Get it out. It will make it easier to move on from this nightmare.” Hawk tells me as he gently runs his hand up and down my back as I lay my head on his chest. He has his chin resting on top of my head. I decide I need to reassure him that I wasn’t raped. I know that’s what he is thinking. I take some deep breaths to steady my nerves and begin to tell him about my ordeal over the last few months.
“They beat me daily. They mostly only gave me water but occasionally brought some bread or raw vegetables. They didn’t seem to want anything other than to make me hurt at first. The day you found me something had changed though. After Tweedledee had beaten me again, he let me know that things were going to change that day.” I say as I settle further into Hawk. Running my hand over his chest to distract me from the awful memories running through my head, I decide I need to get this over with and tell him what had happened that last day.
“After the beating they usually left me alone for the day, but that day he said it was time to teach me how to be a good girl. They were going to give me to Satan, and he wants obedient women. Tweedledee said he was going to show me how be good and do what the man wanted. He said a lot of shit that I won’t repeat. I’m sure you can imagine.” My voice wavers as the memory vividly plays out in my mind. “He groped me and bit my breasts. He proceeded to remove my pants and underwear… I tried to get away, but my hands and my feet were chained to the floor. I managed to crawl a few feet away, but once he had his pants down, he pulled me back to him.” I shudder and my voice hitches as I try to continue to relive the nightmare.
“I’m so sorry, love.” Hawks says as he continues to run his hand down my back trying to soothe me. It takes a few moments before I can continue.
“I could feel him at my entrance. He had me from behind and his fingers were digging into my hips. I was so scared. I knew he was going to rape me and there was not a damn thing I could do to stop him. Just when he was about to penetrate me, Tweedledum began shouting outside and jerked to door open to the shed I was in. He ranted in Spanish and the man behind me suddenly jumped up and righted his clothes. He pulled me to my feet by my hair and pulled my pants back up. They secured my hands and feet again with the zip ties, then they drug me out to the jeep and threw me into the back. The whole camp was in chaos. I guess they must have heard or seen you guys coming through the jungle. The rest you know.” I finish.
“You weren’t raped?” Hawk asks. “I saw the bite marks on your breasts and the bruises on your hips and thighs. I was sure that the worst had happened.” His voice is soft and quiet.
