Left Behind (17 page)

I heard footsteps coming up to me, and then a familiar set of arms enveloped me, rocking me, just holding me allowing me to let it all out. I heard him call for the other two, and a minute later, I was surrounded by all three of my angels.

And they
were
angels. They had saved me when I first moved here after my mom died.
I had been depressed, though my dad and my brothers had tried their hardest to lift my spirits. My mom had been the only one who, at the time, understood me and never judged me. That was until the trips found me by the creek that day and accepted me. It hadn’t mattered that I was chubby. When everyone at school would make fun of ‘the fat girl’, the trips would stand by my brothers to take up for me, and would always find a way to make me feel better.

Now they were picking up
pieces of me again, and slowly putting me back together.
They just sat on the gym floor holding me, not saying anything, just giving me their support. Finally Toby stood up with me still cradled in his arms. He noticed the grimace of pain that crossed my face, and they all immediately started checking me for injuries. I of course didn’t have any except swollen knuckles. When Tory straightened one of my legs, pain shot up my spine. My muscles were so tensed that it was hurting just to have them touching me.

Troy figured it out I guess, and walked away saying something about running a hot bath for me. That being said, the other two caught on and started in on me about pushing myself beyond my limits as Toby carried me up the stairs to his bedroom. Well it had been all of ours for the past couple of nights. His bedroom was the only one with an extra-large double bed , basically the size of two full size beds put together and was extra-long; that could fit all of us in it comfortably. We hadn’t made love again since the fire. They would just hold me until I fell asleep; Toby on my right, Troy on my left, and Tory sleeping in between my legs, pillowing his head on my stomach. They had been showering me with more tenderness and love than I had ever felt before, and they made me feel like everything would be alright.

As we
entered
the room and headed for the bathroom, we could hear Troy’s phone ringing.

“Hello?”

Troy had the phone to his ear as he was pouring Epsom Salt into the steamy bathwater. He turned to watch as Tory undressed me, while I was still in Toby’s arms, getting me ready to soak in the hot bath.

“So what are they going to do?”

I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as he listened to whatever was being said. I was hoping that maybe I could determine if it was good news or bad by the look on his face, but his expression never changed.

“Alright,
keep up with the hourly checkins. I think Marti will feel better to know that her brothers are okay, and let us know as soon as you find out anything with Shelby.” He nodded at whatever was said. “I’ll tell her. Y’all be careful up there and watch each other’s backs. The four of you stay together and you’ll have a better chance.”

He turned back to shut off the water.

“Yea
h
. Talk to you in an hour.” And he hung up the phone.

Toby lowered me into the water as I waited for Troy to tell us what was said. Tory came in with a towel and three washcloths.
The tension in my body started to melt away as they all washed different parts of my body in tender, soothing way. Toby started at my feet and worked up, Tory was taking care of my torso, and Troy was doing my back as he explained what was said in the phone call.

“They went straight to the police station. They weren’t going to do anything, even with the reports, still siting the forty-eight hour rule, until Melbo u rne recognized one of the detectives as an ex Ranger. Said his name was Neil Thompson, I don’t know if you know him, but Melbourne was able to explain the situation to the detective and he said he would take the case personally. Thompson even went to talk with his chief, who was also an ex Ranger , and got the go ahead.”

“Yeah, I know Thompson. We all trained together at Ranger camp. We passed at the same time, but he was on a different team.” Toby explained.

“That’s good, because now he’s sending out an APB with pictures of both Shelby and Beckham to the entire state. He listed Beckham as armed and dangerous; to follow only until they call it in and back-up arrives. So hopefully it won’t be long now.”

I let out a sigh of relief. At least Shelby had hope; she had a lot of people looking for her. Of course I did too, but I was still holding out hope for her. It was all I could do to be able to stay sane.

The trips dried me off and laid me down in bed, surrounding me on all sides. I felt so relaxed and calm after the bath, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open anymore.

“I promise to wake you if there’s any news.” Troy said.

I slept fitfully, not really being able to clear my mind
enough for a deep sleep. I heard the phone ring every hour for four hours, but then they stopped. The lack of phone calls had us all awake and nervous. I had a gut feeling like something bad had happened . Neither Jordan nor James would leave me hanging like this, and I didn’t think Toby’s men would either.

We finally received a phone call at eight thirty the next morning. All the men were patrolling the area just in case we were wrong that Beckham had gone up north, so it was so quiet in the house, we heard Jordan’s voice on the line. His voice was dry and cracked.

“Let me talk to Marti.”

I tapped the phone when Troy handed it to me to let Jordan know I was there.

“Sis, I need you to go to another room. I need to speak with you alone.” He said in the same cracked voice.

I hated it because I couldn’t ask him anything; like what was going on, or what was wrong with him. I had butterflies swarming in my stomach, telling me something was seriously wrong. I just didn’t realize how right I’d be.

I went into the bathroom, shut the door, and locked it. When I tapped again to let him know, he started talking.

“James, Shelby, and I are alright, Sis, but Bradley and Melbourne were shot. I don’t know if they are alive. Beckham has us and he wants you to come in exchange for us , but don’t come. We’
ll be…” I heard him grunt as if someone had hit him.
Tears leaked out of my eyes, knowing some of what my family was having to go through because of me.

“Hello, Pet. It’s been too long, and it’s time you come home to me.” Shivers shot down my spine at hearing the voice of my nightmares. “Do something and let me know you are with me, Kayla.”

I tapped the phone as I had done with Jordan.

“Good. Now listen carefully. I have bou
gh
t you a bus ticket that leaves from the Greyhound Depot on Hwy 21. It will be leaving at one o’clock in the morning . Are you getting this?”

Again I tapped to show I was listening. “Alright, then. I’ll be picking you up somewhere along the way, but I won’t tell you where. You come alone. If I see that you have anyone with you, your family is dead. Even if I’m not with them, someone will be watching and will do what’s needed if I make that call. I ’m giving you plenty of time to be able to find a way of getting those freaks of nature off of your tail. Don’t disappoint me, Pet.
I’ll have your brother’s phone until I pick you up, so find a way to call me if anything comes up.
”

I tapped to say I understood and then hung the phone up. I was crying again, so I needed to figure out what to tell the trips. They would know something was up just by looking at me. I decided to tell them about Bradley and Melbourne, which was part of the truth, but I still needed to think of how to get away from them tonight. Then an idea hit me. They would hate me afterward, but it had to be done to save my brothers and Shelby from Blain’s torture.

I walked out of the bathroom just to have the guys close in on me.

“What’s going on?”
,
“Why did he have to talk to you alone?”
, “Why are you crying?” Toby, Troy , and Tory all asked at the same time.

I looked at Toby, knowing he would blame himself for what happened to his friends, even though it wasn’t his fault.
‘
Your men have both been shot.
’
I signed.

“Are they going to be okay?” He asked immediately.

Damn, I hadn’t thought that through. I was going to have to lie to him, and one thing I couldn’t stand is lying. He was going to hate me even more once he found out.

‘
He didn’t know. They chased after Blain when it happened, and when they went back, the men weren’t there.
’

“DAMN IT!! How could they just leave them there?! You’re NEVER supposed to leave a man behind!!!” He ranted as he paced around the room.

I started crying again because now I was causing Toby to be mad at my brothers for something they didn’t do.
I really hated myself at that moment. I went over to him and put a hand on his arm, and was relieved when he didn’t jerk away.

‘
I’m sorry. They were trying to find Shelby and weren’t thinking .
’

“N
o Pea, I’m sorry. I know they’
re doing the best they can. If it were you, I’d probably have done same thing, and I was trained to never leave a man behind; your brothers weren’t.” He said and took me in his arms, squeezing me for a moment and kissing my forehead before letting me go.

“Come on
,
Cupcake
…” Troy said.

“
Let us fix you something
. You haven’t eaten yet.” Tory finished.

They each put an arm around me and led me out of the room, leaving Toby alone to deal with what had happened. I looked back and saw him sitting down on the side of the bed. He put his head in his hands, and I felt like a monster. All of this was my fault.

The guys fixed me a brunch of scrambled egg and bacon sandwiches. Woods and Luke were the ones cooking. The others came in in pairs to eat; always leaving a pair outside on patrol. Toby had come in in the middle of us eating and broken the news about Bradley and Melbourne. After that, Woods and Luke both kept glancing my way, as if trying to figure something out.

All I could think about is what I needed to do, and hating the fact that I was going to do it.
I was about to lose three of the most important people of my life, to save the other three, but at least they would all be alive.

“It’s going to be alright, Princess.” Tory said. “Look at all we’ve been through, and we’re all still here. Shelby will be okay.”

I nodded.
‘I know. I just really need to get my mind off of things right now.’
I looked at all three of them and another tear rolled down my cheek. It felt like all I did anymore was cry.
‘I don’t know how much more I can take.’

I knew I was being selfish, but I really needed one more day with these men to be able to see me through everything I had to do, and everything that would be done to me.

Troy came over to me and picked me up from the chair. I put my arms around his neck, and my legs lifted to wrap around his waist. We stared into each other’s eyes as he carried me back up the stairs, not even watching where he was going, but getting us there flawlessly. He went down on the bed, keeping his weight above me, and bent down to kiss me. His kiss was desperate and passionate, like he needed it as much as I did. I felt the bed dip on either side of me, but couldn’t take my attention away from Troy and the kiss.

I felt hands start roaming my body, and it took a moment to realize that they were removing my clothes, I was too caught up in the sensations they leaving in their wake. Somehow without even breaking my kiss with Troy, they managed to get me naked. Finally, Troy pulled slowly away, both of us breathless, and he stood up to undress himself. That’s when I looked at the other two and realized they had already taken everything off except their boxers.

Toby bent down to take my mouth, and he mastered me with his kiss. His tongue wrestled for dominance with mine and I relinquished it without a fight. I felt Tory kiss down my torso, dipping his tongue in my belly for a taste before going lower. When he reached my clit , my body ignited. Troy had joined us back on the bed and had taken one breast in his mouth while pinching the nipple of the other and rolling it with his talented fingers. I reached for Toby’s cock, almost choking when I felt the hard length of it through his boxers . How was that ever going to fit in my body?

He must’ve felt me tense. He leaned up and looked into my eyes with so much heat and love. “I promise that we will not hurt you.”

I knew that. These men would do everything in their power to keep me from getting hurt.
I reached in and pulled his steel rod out, rubbing up and down, feeling all of its contours. I thumbed the slit up top the same time that Troy nicked my nipple with his teeth, and Tory sucked my clit, making him feel some of the ecstasy I was feeling at the moment. I pulled Toby up toward me by his cock; letting him know the only way I could at the moment that I wanted to taste him.

He moaned and moved
up to give my mouth easy access to his weeping length . I flicked my tongue across the top, and his sweet tangy taste exploded in my mouth. I sucked the length of him as far as I could before he tapped the back of my throat. He grunted, and I thought I had done something wrong , having never done this before, but Toby threaded his fingers into my hair, gently rubbing my scalp .