Deliverance (The Maverick Defense #1) (32 page)

My mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? You heard everything. Donnie hurt her, Dawson. For all we know, he could have tried to rape her. Or worse. We have to go.”

Dawson ground his teeth together and inhaled deeply. “Joy,” he warned.

“Dawson.” I straightened my back, folding my arms over my chest, and met his icy stare with my own. “I played things your way, but I am going. With or without you. I can’t explain it to you, but she needs me. Ari needs me.”

I’d seen something in her that afternoon at Sherri’s. She was lost and all alone, hiding underneath her cloak of blond and faded pink hair. She was me. And if someone didn’t step in and save her, show her that life didn’t have to be this way, Arianna would become me.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“Lex,” Dawson yelled not taking his eyes off me.

Lex strolled into the room with a smile on his face, but it soon fell as he felt the tension. “Okaaay, what did I miss?”

“Sherri called. We have a problem.”

Lex glanced at us and frowned. “Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Donnie hurt Arianna, the new girl.” I turned my head to Lex. “She’s only seventeen, Lex. She’s just a child. I have to go to her.”

He ignored and turned back to Dawson. “And I’m guessing this is the problem.”

“She can’t go. He’s obviously trying to draw her out.”

I glared at Dawson, hating him at this moment. He didn’t get it—didn’t understand how afraid and alone Ari would be feeling. How scared. I didn’t know her story, but somehow, she’d ended up at Sherri’s with her fate sealed to live a life of prostitution and drugs. No girl deserved that.

“I’m going.”

“Joy.” This time, it came out more of a growl.

“Everyone, just cool it. Where are they at?” Lex directed his question at me.

“Mercy Hospital. Twenty minutes out of town in El Reno.”

“Lex,” Dawson interjected, but Lex held up his hand and continued thinking.

“We leave in ten.” He strolled back out of the kitchen leaving us gaping after him.

“What the hell just happened?” Dawson said more to himself than me.

“I think Lex just made the decision.” Not that I needed their permission. I was going to El Reno with or without them—I’d just have preferred for it to be with them.

“If anything happens out there, I swear to God, Joy.”

I closed the space between us and pushed my body against Dawson. “Everything will be fine.” My lips covered his as I said a silent prayer.

Everything will be fine. It has to be.

We rode to El Reno in silence. Dawson was pissed at Lex, I was pissed at Dawson, and not surprisingly, Lex was calm. I guessed that was part of his skillset. Always be prepared. But part of me couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to his willingness to help. When I’d first met him, he had made his feelings on the matter of Dawson and me quite clear. He hadn’t really said anything, but he didn’t have to; I could just tell he didn’t agree that Dawson was so ready to sacrifice everything again for me. But when it came down to it, he had his friend’s back.

“There it is,” Lex said pointing to the small building up ahead.

He pulled into the small parking lot and cut the engine. “Dawson, anything?”

“Nothing. No tails.”

Tails?

“Okay. I’ll go inside scope the place out. You two wait here.”

Lex climbed out of the car and zipped up his leather bomber jacket. His hair was pulled back into its usual ponytail at the nape of his neck. Most guys as big as Lex wouldn’t have been able to pull off shoulder-length blond hair, but for him, it worked.

“You think Donnie might have had us followed?” I leaned forward to ask Dawson, who was seated up front.

“Possibly. I didn’t see anything, though.”

“Seriously, who are you guys?” I laughed only half-serious.

He twisted his head around to me. “If it all checks out, we go inside, find Sherri and Ari, and get the hell out of here. Understood?”

I swallowed down the nerves swimming up my throat and nodded.

“I love you so fucking much. If anything happens to you, I swear-”

My finger touched his lips and some of Dawson’s anger melted away. “Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

I had to believe it because the alternative was too terrifying to consider. We would go inside, find Sherri and Ari, and hopefully, leave with them before Donnie even learned we were here. A shiver worked its way down my spine at just the thought of poor Arianna. I’d been at Donnie’s mercy one too many times, but I knew him—and usually, I was too high to feel the pain until the morning after. But Ari? She was just a kid.

Lex ducked out of the building, strode over to us, and opened the door. “Everything looks okay. Let’s go.”

We followed Lex inside where a nurse guided us to a small private room. I didn’t know what information Lex had given her, but she didn’t ask us any questions. Sherri’s head whipped up as we reached the half-opened door.

“I’ll give you some privacy.” The nurse left us alone and I pushed past Dawson and Lex to rush into the room and into Sherri’s open arms.

“He hurt her real bad, Joy. That bastard could’ve killed her.”

Pain sliced through me, but it was nothing compared to what I felt when I twisted my head and saw Ari lying in the bed. Her pink blond hair was barely recognizable, tangled and streaked with blood.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered, clutching onto Sherri for strength. “Is she- is she going to be okay?”

“Doctors said she’ll make a full recovery. She has bruised ribs, a pretty nasty cut on her thigh, and her face is a mess, but she’ll live.” Sherri’s voice was thick with anger and regret. It was her job to keep the johns in line—to make sure the girls didn’t get roughed up too badly. And although she’d never said the words, I saw a flash of agony in Sherri’s eyes as she watched Ari that looked a whole lot like a person sharing another’s pain because they’d been there. Sherri had, once upon a time, been Ari … been me.

I hugged my friend tighter and turned away from Ari to glance at Dawson and Lex. Dawson’s face was set in a stone mask as he eyed the bed. His strong jaw ticked with anger. Lex mirrored his partner, but there was something else there. Like Sherri, he looked personally affected by the sight of the young girl beaten and bloody against the crisp white linen. But there was no time to find out his story because the girl in the bed needed us.

She needed me.

Soon after we arrived, Sherri left the hospital to return to Chancing. Troy had remained behind with Donnie but kept Sherri informed of his state of mind. It wasn’t good. He was on a warpath, and we were running out of time. But right now, Ari needed us.

“We can take her home.” Lex peeked his head around the door and slipped into the room.

“How’d you pull that?”

“Flashed my badge, gave them a wink and a nod. The usual.” He grinned at us.

“Do I even want to know?” I glanced back and forth between Dawson and Lex from my chair at the side of Ari’s bed.

Lex laughed and came to the end of the bed. “How is she?”

“She still won’t talk, but she’s okay.” I squeezed Ari’s hand gently in my own and smiled at her. She had woken not long after we arrived, but she hadn’t said a word. Not even to the nurse who came to check her vitals.

“You have us now. He won’t touch you again, I promise.”

A tear slid down Ari’s face as she tried to move her lips. “Thaa- thank you.”

I looked over at Dawson and widened my eyes.
She spoke
. It was a good sign; it had to be a good sign. He pushed off his spot against the wall and strode over to the bed. “Lex, handle her discharge. The sooner we leave, the better.”

Lex nodded and disappeared again while Dawson scrubbed a hand over his jaw. He didn’t like it, I could tell. But there was no way I was leaving Ari all alone. Her coming with us wasn’t up for discussion.

“I’ll go bring the car around. Don’t leave this room, do you understand?” he barked, and I shot him an irritated look. His face instantly softened a fraction, and he came around to press a kiss to my head. “Please, just stay with her. I’ll be right back.”

When Dawson left the room, I focused my attention on Arianna, gently brushing the matted hair away from her face. “I’m so sorry he did this to you. It’s all my fault.”

This time, Ari squeezed my hand. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to. It was all right there in her swollen mascara-stained eyes.

Lex reappeared with a wheelchair filled with some papers and a bag of pain meds for Ari. I gulped hard, eyeing the bag of narcotics—a rush of hunger bolted through me, but I shut it down. It didn’t own me. It was my scapegoat, a way to forget, to leave my body. I didn’t need that now that I had Dawson. I had to get control of myself. For Ari.

A nurse followed Lex into the room, all doe-eyed as she reeled off instructions for Ari’s dressings and medication. Obviously dazzled by his rugged good looks and charm, she didn’t seem the least bit concerned about her arrangements, and I wondered if he’d been joking about flashing her a badge. Dawson passed her as she exited the room. “All good to go?”

“I think so. Joy, help me get her situated.”

Between the two of us, we managed to maneuver Ari into a sitting position and then lift her carefully into the chair. The hospital gown clung to her delicate frame, and I shed my jacket to wrap around her shoulders, offering her some modesty. I was surprised when Lex took hold of the handles and started to wheel her out of the room.

Dawson held out his hand for me, and I took it reveling in the feel of his skin against mine. Lex thanked the staff for all of their help and followed him out of the door to where Dawson had pulled up the car. I opened the door while the guys prepared to help Ari into the backseat. She was silent, glancing at me for reassurance. I smiled at her.
Everything will be okay.

“Mr. Maverick?” a voice called from somewhere behind us. “We have a bag of Miss Temples’ personal effects inside.”

We all halted and turned to find a nurse with a welcoming smile approaching us. Without thinking, I said, “I can come and get it. You get her into the car,” I instructed Dawson and Lex as I started to follow the nurse inside.

“She might prefer for some of it to be destroyed,” the nurse prattled to herself as we headed for the room Ari had occupied. “But there’s a necklace and a ring that look like they might hold sentimental value.”

“Okay,” I replied eager to get Ari’s stuff and head back to the car.

“The bag was in the cabinet, which is probably why you didn’t see it.”

The plastic bag was now on the bed. Blood stained clothes stuffed inside. On top was a gold chain with a cross and a ring threaded onto it.

The nurse beeped and she retrieved her pager. “Oh shoot, I have to be somewhere, but take what you think Miss Temple needs and leave the rest. We can dispose of it.” She hurried out of the room and I approached the bed, bile somersaulting in my stomach.

There was blood, so much blood, caked on her clothes. I laid the jewelry to one side, and fingered the blouse, holding it up. The buttons were gone, a jagged tear along the hem where someone had ripped it away from her body. Dropping the blouse, I moved my hand to the jewelry. It was …

A hand clamped over my mouth stuffing a handkerchief against my nose. My heart jumped into my throat as I bucked against strong hands locking me against a wall of solid muscle. But the chloroform was too strong. It spread through me like wildfire, killing my responses until I tumbled into the black void.