Hawkins looked up as his man Brute walked down the hall towards the Infirmary, carrying an unconscious woman in his arms. He turned to glare at Titan, Wanderer and Nash. “What the fuck did I just see?”
“Brute found a survivor,” Titan explained. “He found her up a tree. She caught a bullet.”
Hawkins shook his head. “What the everlovin fuck?” he growled. “Any sign of the other two?”
Titan looked over at Nash.
Hawkins followed his gaze.
Nash sneered. “I found Hogg. He was all shot up but he was still alive at least for a moment or two. He claimed Isobel was there until they started losing the gun fight. Then she turned and ran. She told him he would know where to find her if he survived the battle. Then he told me she always had a plan B and she always had someone to watch her back.”
“Damn fuckin’ hell!” Hawkins swore loudly. “How many lives does that witch have anyway? She’s got to be running low.” He turned to Titan again. “What about the woman Brute carried in here? Who the fuck is she and what the hell was she doing in the woods?”
Titan shrugged. “Brute told us she was following somebody and got caught up in a tree when the bullets started coming. Apparently, she got hit by one and he caught her when she fell out of the tree. She was out cold when we found him.”
Hawkins shook his head. “This is just what we don’t need, another problem. Don’t we have enough on our plate right now?” Shaking his head he said, “Well let’s go see what the newest pain in the ass is doing.”
They walked down the hall and entered the Infirmary just as Boots pulled the bullet out of the woman.
Brute stood at the head of the bed and watched everything Boots did.
Cat was coming back to the bed with more supplies when she noticed them coming in. She paused briefly then walked toward Boots slowly.
“What you got here, Boots?” Hawkins asked.
“She took a round in the side. I don’t think it hit anything major but she’s lost a lot of blood.” Boots was busy tying a stitch in the wound left from the bullet hole. When he finished, he medicated the wound and put a dressing over it.
Cat and Luna began gathering the soiled wipes to throw them away.
“Any idea who she is?” Hawkins asked.
“Not a clue, boss.” Brute told him. “All she told me before she passed out was that she followed a not so nice man here and got caught up in the fire fight. Then she passed out and fell out of the fucking tree she was sitting in. I caught her before she hit the ground but she’s been out since then.”
Hawkins shook his head and ran his fingers over the back of his head. “Well, do the best you can with her. We need to know the who and the what of it before we call in the sheriff.”
Brute snorted and glared at the other man. “Don’t you mean if you call the sheriff?”
Hawkins shook his head. “In case you missed it, we’re caught in the fuckin’ middle of an ongoing war here. One we didn’t ask for, but we got it all the same. We got Isobel and her crew on one side and now we got the cartel and their fuckin’ secrets on the other. Both of them want the other dead and we’re right smack dab in the middle. So is the town we protect. We live here and I’m too God damn old to move. This is our piece of ground in this world and we’ll stand here and protect what’s ours. Don’t you think we should at least warn the sheriff what’s coming, so they can protect what’s theirs?”
Brute glared at him but didn’t say anything.
Hawkins went on, “Isobel has been using this place for damn near thirty years and it’s time to call her on that.”
“You think she’s coming back here?” Nash wanted to know. “After all this, you really think she’s coming back?”
Hawkins nodded. “Yeah, that bitch will be back. She’s got too many loose ends left behind.”
“Not to mention she’s running out of places to hide,” Cat added. “She’s got the cartel looking for her too, not just us and they are already established in places we don’t know. And she’s been doing this a very long time, enough time to make sure she’s got people set up that are willing to watch her back no matter where she goes.”
“Well, he’s right about one thing,” Luna dared to speak up. “She’ll be back. She wants you and me dead, even if it costs her more than she’s willing to give up, she wants us dead.”
“That ain’t gonna happen.” Kota snarled.
“I agree,” Titan stated. “No one will hurt either of you again.” His eyes gleamed with anger.
The girl on the bed groaned and opened her eyes.
Everyone looked over at the bed she was in.
Brute moved closer to her.
Boots got busy checking her vitals.
While she looked glad to see Brute, she frowned at Boots. “What are you doing?” she quietly asked.
“I’m the medic here and I just pulled a bullet out of your side. I have to make sure you aren’t running a fever or anything else.”
“Well, watch your hands there buddy.” She grunted. Then she raised her head and frowned at the sight of everyone in the room. “Who the hell are you guys?”
“We are the Rogues of Hell, little girl,” Hawkins told her as he glared at her. “Question is who the hell are you?”
She just stared back at him and shrugged. “Who am I? Well, that is the question, isn’t it?”
Brute frowned as he glanced at Hawkins then back to the woman. “What the hell does that mean?”
She stared at him for a moment then sighed. “I know it is going to sound crazy but I don’t know who the hell I am. I mean I never even had a name!”
Looking concerned, Cat and Luna stepped closer to the bed.
Luna stared at her. “No, it is not crazy. Believe me it’s not as crazy as you think.”
The woman stared up at her.
Cat took the girl’s hand. “We understand. I mean we don’t know anything about you but when it comes to not knowing where you came from or who your parents were, Luna and I get it. We were orphaned and lied to about who we were.”
Luna looked over at Cat then at the girl and nodded her head.
“So can you explain why you came here?” Hawkins asked.
“I followed this man here. I don’t know his name, but he may be the only one that can answer my questions.”
“About who you really are?” Brute asked.
She nodded. “From what I understood growing up, the woman taking care of me wasn’t my mother, for which I am very glad by the way, as she was a real bitch at times. Anyway, she told me that my mother never gave me a name that she knew of and she couldn’t be bothered. She just used to call me whatever she was feeling that day. If she was upset, she called me a bitch, if she was feeling good, I was simply a brat. I can tell you that the woman who gave birth to me never came around again, after she left me there. If she did, I never met her face to face. We lived in a three room hovel most of my life. The woman who raised me… if you could call it that, called herself Mrs. Wyman and that’s what I called her, so I named myself Tatum. It’s as good a name as any.”
Hawkins just shook his head. “So who is this bad man that you followed?”
Tatum shook her head. “I don’t know his name, I never knew his name, but he started coming around a few weeks ago. Mrs. Wyman sure didn’t like him being there and I don’t think he liked her any more than she liked him but the last time he came was last week. They had a big fight and he ended up killing her.” She shook her head. “I don’t think he knew I was in the house because he sure never looked for me. I saw him though. Then after he walked out the door, I did too. For the first time in my life I was free of that evil woman.”
“So why did you bother to follow the man then?” Brute asked. “I mean he doesn’t sound like someone safe to be around.”
“I listened to what they were fighting about,” she explained. “The guy said he just got out of prison and she told him he should have stayed there. He said there was nothing for him there. He asked about a baby he left with her years ago and she told him the baby was dead. He said she owed him money and she told him to fuck off. That’s when he grabbed her by the throat and choked her to death.” She looked around the room. “So, if I’m that baby he left with her, I got loads of questions I need answers for. Hell, he might even be able to tell me who I really am. Can any one of you blame me for following the bastard? Then after I followed him here, I saw him sneak away when the shooting started. So I was hoping he was still here.”
Hawkins snorted. “Oh, he’s still here, little girl.” He nodded at the other bed in the room.
Boots had been sitting in her way and moved.
Tatum peeked around Boots and saw Dennis Matchy tied down to the bed frame. She nodded. “That’s him. Is he still alive?”
Luna shook her head and sighed. “It fucking figures.”
Cat moved over and took her arm to try to comfort her friend.
“Yeah, he’s still alive,” Luna answered this in a disgusted tone. “But I don’t know if you’ll get any real information from him. I wouldn’t take anything he says as the truth. He’d lie as soon as look you in the eyes.”
Tatum glanced over her way and asked, “Why?”
“Because he’s a stupid man,” Luna told her. “He couldn’t tell the truth if his life depended on it. He even thinks Isobel is coming back to rescue him.” She shook her head. “If Isobel does come back, she’ll make sure he’s the first one she kills, she’s a peach like that.”
“But he’s all the hope I have left to find out who I am,” Tatum lamented. “Damn it…” She scooted up in the bed, turning on her side and curling up into a ball. She tried not to make any noise as tears leaked down her cheeks. “I hoped he would have the answers.” She sobbed.
