Tex Read online

  “I’ll have the club lawyer draw up the necessary paperwork. She can get whatever information she needs from Wire to build her case, and we’ll get the ball rolling today. But, Tex, this might take some time,” Torch said.

  “I can’t leave her there,” I said. “She’s in a fucking asylum!”

  “Yes, and for all we know, she needs to be there,” Torch said. “You have no idea what her mental state is right now. Maybe losing her mother damaged her in some way.”

  “I need to see her.”

  “Your bike key is on the ring I gave you. It’s parked out back in the shed. The other keys are to a house in the compound. The house number is stamped onto the key. Just follow the road until you find it.”

  I nodded and stood. “Thank you, Torch. For everything. For welcoming me back, giving me a place to stay, keeping my bike… and for helping me get my daughter.”

  “We’re family, Tex. We look out for our own.”

  I tapped the table with my knuckles, then went to get my bike. The engine roared to life, and with the bike vibrating between my legs, I felt like I’d finally come home. I didn’t have my new cut yet, but I would, and then I’d finally feel like me again. Or so I hoped. Right now, I still felt like a soldier, but that wasn’t who I was anymore. I twisted the throttle, and the bike shot out of the shed and toward the front gate. The Prospect guarding the entrance slid the gate open, and I drove through it, speeding up as I hit the streets. The asylum was just outside of town, and I didn’t stop until I’d pulled into the outer parking lot.

  I shut off the bike and approached the guard station. A tall fence surrounded the asylum, with sharp spikes along the top. I shivered at how ominous the place looked. The man in the guard booth was old and graying, but the gun on his hip said he was ready for anything.

  “May I help you?” he asked as I approached.

  “I’m here to see Janessa Kilpatrick.”

  “Do you have an appointment?” he asked.

  “No, but I’m her father.”

  He studied me a moment, then held out his hand. “ID.”

  I handed him my license and wished I’d worn my dog tags outside my shirt. Even though I wasn’t active duty anymore, I hadn’t taken them off just yet. They still felt like they were a part of me. He looked it over, then stepped farther into the booth and picked up a phone. It felt like an eternity while I waited.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Rodriguez, but Janessa isn’t accepting visitors today. Doctor’s orders.”

  “Of course.” I took my license back and gazed beyond the guard booth at the asylum rising into the sky. I gave the guard a nod and then went back to my bike.

  As soon as I reached the compound, I found Wire.

  “I need everything you can get on Hillview Asylum. Layout, security system, employees. I want it all,” I told him.

  “And why do you need that?” he asked.

  “Because I’m going after my daughter. Something isn’t right about that place, and I’m not leaving her there another second. Fuck the paperwork. That kid is mine.”

  He nodded. “I already spoke with the club’s lawyer and gave her everything she needed. She may need your signature on a few things.”

  “And the asylum?” I asked.

  “I’ll have it for you by morning. If the lawyer can’t get a judge to give you access to your daughter before the courthouse closes tomorrow, then we’ll hit the asylum tomorrow night. With some luck, they’ll be so embarrassed they were breached and someone escaped, they won’t cause too much trouble for us.”

  “We?” I asked.

  “Yeah, soldier boy,” he said, grinning. “Dixie Reapers take care of their own. Janessa is yours, which means she’s one of us. If she needs to be rescued from that place, we’ll get it done.”

  The tension I hadn’t realized was building inside me started to ease. I nodded and left him to find whatever he could about the creepy place outside of town. I’d trusted my gut the entire time I’d been in the military, and it had saved my ass more than once. And right now, my gut was telling me that my baby girl was in trouble. No way in hell I was leaving her at Hillview. One way or another, Janessa was coming home.

  Chapter Two

  Kalani

  Everything was hazy as I slowly opened my eyes. The ugly gray walls seemed to close in on me, blurring and swirling, until the room snapped into place. I groaned and tried to roll onto my side, but I couldn’t move. I closed my eyes again and breathed deeply, the smell of antiseptic burning my nose. When I looked around again, I gazed down my body and realized they’d strapped me to the bed. It wasn’t the first time, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Everything ached, but I couldn’t remember what they’d done to me. Maybe that was for the best. At least I seemed to be clothed this time.

  I knew better than to call out, but my bladder was full and I really didn’t want to piss myself. They’d done this to me countless times, and often I ended up soiling the bed I was lying on, which only ended in punishment. A shuffling sound caught my attention and I tried to crane my neck toward the far corner near the window. A shadowy form was huddle on the floor. Janessa. I didn’t know why she was here, and I doubted I wanted to know. I only hoped they hadn’t hurt her.

  “Kalani,” she said softly, scooting forward, but clinging to the shadows.

  When she reached the bed, I saw the bruise on her cheek. It was my fault. I hadn’t been paying attention and hadn’t reacted fast enough. I always watched out for Janessa, but I’d been distracted, and it had cost her. Had cost both of us. When she’d first arrived, she’d been so damn small and scared. It had been easy to befriend her. Now she was a teenager, and I knew if she didn’t get out of this place soon, she’d be in big trouble. Even though she was still a kid, she was beautiful with her olive-colored skin and dark hair. Her wide, brown eyes still looked innocent even after everything she’d witnessed in this place.

  The guards had started to notice. I distracted them as often as possible, but one day, I wouldn’t be able to stop them. And my stomach clenched when I thought about what she’d suffer at their hands. No one should ever go through that, but then the inhabitants of Hillview were no longer seen as human. We were just toys for the doctors and staff. But unlike the other residents here, I’d never been anywhere else. My mother had been a patient at Hillview, and my father had been an asshole rapist masquerading in a white lab coat. The fact that dear ol’ dad was one of the doctors didn’t mean shit. He didn’t love me, had never wanted me, so he didn’t care what happened. The staff and other doctors could do whatever they wanted, and he’d just stare right through me like I didn’t even exist. I fucking hated this place, but it was all I’d ever known. I was just one of their many dirty little secrets.

  “Sorry,” I said, or tried to. My voice barely worked, and the words were such a soft whisper I wasn’t certain she’d heard me.

  Booted steps were coming down the hallway, more than one set. My heart raced and I struggled, trying to break free. I no longer cared what they did to me, but I couldn’t protect Janessa if I was tied down. They could hurt her, or take her away, and I’d be unable to stop them. The door to my room opened, and an orderly stepped inside. He was one of the nicer ones, or at least he’d never unfastened his pants around me. To me, that was nice.

  More dark figures entered the room, two of them had to be the largest men I’d ever seen, and my fear spiked higher. I whimpered and fought some more. Janessa crowded closer to me, her hand reaching for mine. One of the men came closer, and the moonlight washed over him. Eyes a dark chocolate-brown focused on Janessa, but it was the look of wonder that made me stop fighting.

  “Janessa,” he said.

  She clung tighter to me.

  “Honey, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said. “We’re going to get you out of here. My name is Houston Rodriguez, but everyone calls me Tex. Do you know who I am?”

  The tension in Janessa eased a little. “Tex?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Ye
ah, honey. I’m your dad.”

  “She said you didn’t want me,” Janessa said.

  “You need to hurry this up,” the orderly said. “The guards will come through here again in the next twenty minutes, and you need to be long gone.”

  Tex nodded. “Come on, honey. We’re going to go home. To my home. These are your uncles, Tank and Flicker.”

  Janessa smiled a little and giggled. “You all have silly names.”

  “Yeah, I guess we do.”

  Janessa sobered and moved closer to me again. “I’m not leaving Kalani.”

  Tears pricked my eyes as I gazed at the young girl. It was just like her to try to take me along, but I knew they couldn’t do that. There was no way my father would ever let me out of this place. No, I’d been born in Hillview and I’d die here, probably sooner rather than later.

  “Go,” I said, my voice a little stronger this time.

  “I won’t leave you,” she said stubbornly, her chin jutting out.

  I flicked my gaze over to her father, who was regarding me with interest. “Take her. Make her leave.”

  The man looked from me to the orderly. “Why is she tied down?”

  The orderly looked nervous and fidgeted, looking everywhere but at me or the man asking questions.

  “They hurt her,” Janessa said. “They’re always hurting her. They make her do things.”

  My eyes closed and I fought hard not to cry. I’d hoped she wouldn’t know what was happening to me, what would eventually happen to her. I should have known a smart girl like Janessa would figure it out. I heard her father curse, and then rough hands were yanking at the buckles on my restraints.

  “You can’t take her,” the orderly said, panic rising in his voice.

  “The fuck I can’t,” Tex said. “Flicker, how much time do we have?”

  “Another five minutes, then the security footage will be back online and we’ll be spotted if we’re still inside. Wire gave us as much of a window as he could.”

  Tex nodded and finished releasing me. Then he gently lifted me into his arms and looked down at his daughter. Janessa seemed uncertain, but the man called Flicker reached for her hand.

  “Come on, Janessa,” Flicker said. “I’m your Uncle Flicker, and we’re going to take you home. You never have to come back here again.”

  For the first time since meeting her, I saw Janessa smile a true smile. One that made her shine from the inside out.

  “Kalani too,” she said. “Promise. Kalani can come home too.”

  The men shared a look and Flicker nodded. “I promise. Kalani can come home too, and she doesn’t have to come back here.”

  The orderly made a choking sound, his eyes wide, and I knew he was worried about what would happen once my father realized I was missing. I wanted to smile, not a pleasant smile but an evil one, because I knew the man’s days were numbered. All the staff would be in trouble once my absence was noted, unless they found a way to hide that information from my father. Not like the man ever came to see me anyway.

  Tex began walking with a ground-eating stride, the others walking beside him. When the fresh air outside hit me, I shivered and tried to suck in as much clean air as I could. I hadn’t felt a breeze in so very long. When I’d been younger, they’d allowed me to walk the grounds for an hour every week. As time passed and I grew older, the outside trips grew more infrequent and eventually stopped all together. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt a breeze on my face or seen the moon without looking at it through bars.

  A large black truck was hidden in the shadows, and I hoped they knew how to get us out of here without being detected. Their five-minute window was about up, if it hadn’t expired already. Tex climbed into the backseat with me still in his arms, and Janessa scooted in next to us. The other two men took the front seats, with the largest of them sliding behind the wheel.

  “Get us home, Tank,” Tex said. “And make it fast.”

  The big man nodded and floored it. I’d never been in a car before, and I wanted to look at everything, explore a little, but I was too scared to move. Now that I was no longer flat on the bed, my body hurt even more. I tried to relax against Tex, tried to put my faith in a man I’d never seen before. But he’d gotten me out of there, so that had to make him good, right?

  The truck came to a stop just outside a metal gate. It slid open, and the truck pulled through. I didn’t know where we were, and I didn’t care, as long as it wasn’t the asylum. Anything was better than being there. They drove down a winding road and stopped in front of a green house. Flicker got out and opened the back door. Tex held me tight as he stepped out of the truck and began carrying me toward the house. Janessa walked at his side.

  “Call the doc,” Tex said. “I think they both need to be checked out.”

  My body tensed, and I struggled against him. No, no more doctors. Doctors caused pain. I could feel the panic rising inside me, my heart racing and my lungs feeling like they’d seize at any moment.

  “Hey, easy,” Tex crooned at me. “No one’s going to hurt you.”

  “Doctors do bad things,” Janessa said softly. “Especially to Kalani.”

  Tex looked down at me and gave a slight nod. “All right. No doctors. Not for tonight anyway.”

  “Where are you going to put them?” Flicker asked. “Only two of the bedrooms are furnished.”

  “Kalani and I can share,” Janessa said.

  Tex carried me down a short hall and stepped into a blue bedroom. He eased me down onto the bed, and I winced as pain shot through me again. Janessa moved around to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to me. She stayed close, but not near enough that she’d hurt me.

  “You’re safe here,” Tex said. “No one can get into the compound without our permission.”

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  He smiled a little. “We’re Dixie Reapers, and we take care of our own.”

  “But I’m not one of you. I don’t belong to anyone.”

  He glanced at his daughter. “She thinks you belong to her, and since she’s mine, I guess that makes you mine too.”

  A strange warmth worked its way through me at his words. I’d never been anyone’s before, but as his gaze settled on me again, I decided I didn’t mind being called his. With the bedroom lights on, I could see more details of the men who had rescued us. They were each handsome in their own way, but Tex took my breath away. I’d never considered a man attractive before, not when I knew what they were capable of, but these men had risked their lives to save us. And that made them different.

  “Bathroom,” I blurted, still feeling like my bladder would burst.

  “It’s down in the hall,” Tex said.

  I tried to stand, but my body wouldn’t cooperate very well. He scooped me into his arms and carried me to the bathroom. He released me and went to turn away, but I nearly collapsed. With a curse, he grabbed me again.

  “You’re going to have to let me help you,” he said.

  I swallowed hard and nodded. It wouldn’t be the first time a man had seen me naked. He helped me pull my pants down, and I sat to do my business. When I was finished, he helped me stand and pulled my pants back up, then carried me back to the bedroom and eased me back down onto the bed.

  The men who had lingered filed out of the room, with Tex staying a moment. “I’ll find you both some clothes, and then you can shower. I’m sure you’ll want to wash that place off you.”

  He left the door open as he followed the others back down the hall, and I wondered if he’d known I would feel caged in with the door shut. Or had he left it open for his daughter? I glanced at Janessa, and she looked confused but hopeful. She’d never talked about her dad before, only her mom and what a horrible person she’d been. I didn’t know why her father hadn’t come to get her sooner, but I hoped that he was here to stay. He was all that stood between us and Hillview. And I’d rather die than ever go back to that hell.

  When Tex returned, he had a woman
with him. Was he married? Was she his wife? There was a band on her finger, but he wasn’t wearing one.

  The woman smiled and moved closer, the plastic sacks in her hands crinkling.

  “My name’s Ridley,” she said. “I don’t know if the things I brought will fit, but maybe they’ll do for tonight. We can figure out your sizes in the morning and buy you some clothes and shoes.”

  Janessa eased off the bed and approached Ridley. “Are you my stepmom?”

  Ridley threw her head back and laughed. “No. But your daddy is friends with my husband. I’m just here to help, then I’m going home to Venom and my daughters.”

  Janessa looked longingly at the sacks. “And those are for us?”

  Ridley nodded and set the bags down.

  “Flicker sent me a text after the two of you were rescued. I had to run to the nearest store, and I just grabbed a few different sizes of panties and flip-flops since I didn’t know your sizes. I just got some one-size-fits-most shirts and leggings, and two nightgowns for the both of you to sleep in tonight. You can wear the shirts and leggings tomorrow with the flip-flops, and someone will take you shopping for clothes and shoes that fit better.”

  I tensed, knowing it wasn’t a good idea for me to leave this place. If being behind the gate meant no one could get me, then I wanted to stay right where I was. Preferably forever. Venturing out to go shopping didn’t sound like such a good idea, even if it was something I would have loved to experience one day.

  “Janessa, you can use the hall bathroom,” Tex said. “Ridley got you some girly soap and shampoo too.”

  His daughter grabbed her new items and practically ran for the bathroom. Ridley and Tex stared at me, and I tried to sit up, but pain shot through me, nearly stealing the breath from my lungs. I collapsed onto the bed and wondered if I could just stay in my asylum-issued clothes until I no longer felt like I’d been used as a punching bag. And it wasn’t unthinkable that something like that had actually happened after I’d blacked out from whatever drugs they’d given me. Thankfully, I wasn’t sore between my legs, so at least they hadn’t raped me.